#this is actually something i wanted to paint traditionally and hang on my wall but idk yet if i can do it

[oyeixcher]

I got a new Wacom tablet today so I wanted to try something artsy out again. It's been a long time. This is bad but whatever. Just wanted to try out the feel of the tablet and pen and everything :)

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

I think something that has to be brought up with NFTs, and why there are some actual artists and corporations jumping on them, has been the extent that the digital art world has proven mostly unable (and has been stigmatized for it) to be shaped into the physical art world.

For centuries, the ability to create art and to appreciate art was limited by status and wealth. The ability to afford certain paints and use them was a matter of big importance, and as a result, a lot of artists were either independently wealthy or had some manner of wealthy patron financing their work. This also meant that art very quickly became wrapped up in ideas of status: a work that cost a lot to produce then cost a lot of money to buy, and owning a lot of expensive pieces of work, even if they were shitty looking, meant you were big and important.

This trend in the art world continued even as cheaper paints, cheaper brushes, cheaper materials became more common and the actual ability to make art became more accessible. I feel like at least in part this is why we see less notable artists from the past century-150 years as well.

Enter digital art, and suddenly the barrier to entry is now hilariously low. Thousands of people now have the ability to essentially infinitely create art thanks to computer programs and drawing tablets. Yes, there's a fairly steep buy-in cost, but you don't need to continually buy supplies and replace them and you have the ability to very easily correct mistakes! Moreover, it's the internet, one of the technological innovations that has REALLY upended the way the world works, and has undermined the necessity for status or money to be important. People from around the world can find your works, like them, share them, and pay you to make art for them! This doesn't mean the life of a digital artist is easy (for many many many many many reasons, many of which are endemic to the internet), but its a marked improvement in a lot of ways.

This stands at odds with the traditional art world in many ways. You can't just have random nobodies suddenly appearing and being famous and selling their art for a ton of money. Art is supposed to be exclusive! Scarce! Digital art also really fucks with the idea of an original piece. In physical art, the original painting or drawing is worth way, way more than reproductions ever would be. But how can you guarantee that with digital art? Sure, you can have the original art file (although I don't know of any artists who actually do this), but anyone can just save your art, and you can't exactly hang a photoshop file on your wall. This is why digital art has been traditionally so maligned by the art world at large: its easy, accessible, anyone can do it, and doesn't fit into the existing structure at all.

NFTs are intended to recreate that with digital art. You own the token, which means you are exclusively acknowledge as the owner of this art piece, and also that token is worth a lot of money because its built on cryptocurrency and blockchain, which costs thousands of dollars to produce and make. Think of the status! The exclusivity! The scarcity! There's only so many tokens after all, and sure, someone can download your art but they don't have the token.

Now...NFTs are a golden brick scam and the truth is that they do none of this. NFTs do not at all meaningfully reproduce the traditional art market into the digital space. Eventually, once the new tax regulations hit and crypto marks realize how badly they've been screwed, NFTs will cease to exist and their impact will be studied later (and probably kill the planet). But this is why I think they've been picked up by so many companies, wanting to turn their movies and characters into digital art that feels like the old art world.

(Note: I am a history major but my field of focus is not art history, so I'm willing to be corrected on misconceptions, as this is only going off what I've learned myself and I'm sure there is a lot of exceptions to what I stated above.

I will only considering being corrected about the NFT part if you wear the femboy hooters outfit and blow me. Consider.)

[badjoices]

My Life With You

I. Move-in Day Dean and Cas move into a new home and start to build a life together with baby Jack.

[Read on AO3] | [Fic Masterpost]

The sun was sitting high in the sky, creeping towards the apex of its arc, when the U-Haul pulled up outside the modest two-storey on a quiet, tree-lined residential street. The crisp spring air was warm, moving through the green leaves and blush blossom with a quiet rustle. The sound of the late Sunday morning was largely void; defined by its absences more than anything; no children playing or parents chit-chatting over their hedges just yet, as most in the neighbourhood were making the most of the last lie-in of the week.

Except for Dean Winchester, and his better half Castiel, who had been up since the sun first began to peek over the horizon, packing, stacking and taping boxes in the bunker. Several chaotic and disorganised hours later, all was packed and prepped, and here they were; home. They’d seen it before of course, but this was the first time seeing that house become their home.

“I can’t believe it,” Dean said, after silencing the rumbling engine. “My own white picket-fence.”

Cas, unsurprisingly unsentimental about fencing retorted with confusion. “The fence isn’t white.”

Dean rolled his eyes, lovingly, and made to get out of the truck without a response.

“We could paint it white, if you’d like?” Cas continued, once he too had disembarked, and had met Dean on the pavement side.

“No, man, I like it as is.”

The two walked up their front path - theirs - their steps springy with giddiness as they approached the front door. Pulling a pristine silver key from his jacket pocket, with a turn and click, Dean swung open the door to their new life. The pair stood on the front porch for a moment, not quite believing that this door was for them.

“Should I carry you over the threshold?” Dean joked, leaning over to Cas, face plastered with a grin.

Cas looked to his side and met Dean’s gaze, holding for a moment before-

“I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Cas took the first step and walked into the entranceway. Dean quickly followed behind. The house was dark, with all the blinds left closed, the only light now streaming in through the open door, silhouetting Dean and Castiel in the narrow doorframe. Cas stood there, studying the blank walls, mentally populating them with where he envisioned they would put up photos of their family, past, present and future. Something about those blank white walls, the canvas for him to paint a picture of the life he had chosen, caught the angel off guard as he became overwhelmed with joy. The moment was only sweetened when Dean, who was having equally soppy thoughts about the prospect of a coat rack - a real place to hang his hat - intertwined his fingers in Castiel’s. Neither said a word for a good minute or two, not wanting the moment of pure indulgent fantasy to end - they were so unused to complete unapologetic wanting that it was so nice to bask in it even for a minute.

“We need to start unpacking at some point.” Dean broke the silence.

“Yes, Sam’s bringing Jack by tomorrow morning,” Cas agreed. “We need to have his room ready by tonight at the very least.”

Despite their agreement, they were still glued to the spot, hands still locked together.

“You gotta let go, Cas.”

“You first.”

The two began to stare at each other in a mix between a loving gaze and a challenge. Cas intensified his gaze.

“Same time.” he said.

Dean nodded, eyes never drifting from Cas’s. They each pulled their hand away at the same time, eyes still locked, and broke into a soft laughter.

“You let go a little earlier than me.” Dean teased.

“Actually, you started to pull your hand away six milliseconds before I did.” Cas retorted playfully.

Dean started back out towards the U-Haul with Cas in tow, turning his head back as he walked to reply;

“You can’t prove that.”

Dean opened up the back and the pair were reminded of the magnitude of the task ahead of them.

“Well,” Dean said, nodding his head slowly in a pre-emptive defeat. “Where do we start?”

Cas stepped up and made for a stack of two boxes. “I can take all the heavy ones.” he said, lifting the boxes with ease.

Angelic strength or not, Dean felt compelled to protest. “I can carry the heavy ones too.”

“There’s no need, Dean. It’ll be faster if I do it.” Cas replied, his voice earnest as he offered his help as always.

Dean scrunched up his face in a faux irritation. Of course, Cas was probably right, and even still, Dean wasn’t one to complain about having a literal angel do the heavy lifting for him. Dean opted for a double-box stack too, but ones marked ‘clothes’; an acceptable compromise for him.

Box after box, Dean and Castiel ferried their life from its transit state into its permanent home. With only one box left, Cas began to unpack and sort their contents on the empty living room floor, while Dean went to fetch the last box. The sun now sat directly overhead. This, paired with the strenuous back-and-forth, had lead Dean to ditching his flannel over-layer a while ago.

“Oh, hello!”

A cheery female voice chirped from behind Dean as he began to close up the U-Haul. Dean turned and was greeted by the broad smile of a mid-thirties woman in yoga pants. Welcome to suburbia, huh.

“You must be my new neighbour!” she continued.

“Uh, yeah, hey,” Dean said, holding his hand over his eyes to shield them from the piercing sunlight. “I’m Dean. You live next-door?”

“Carol,” she replied. “And yes, I’m your right-side neighbour!”

“Awesome.” Dean nodded. Despite typically being effortlessly charismatic, Dean definitely felt out of his depth; he was simply not accustomed to the rules and decorum required in scenarios like these.

“You know if I’d known you were moving in today, I’d have made a casserole,” Carol began to ramble. “Do you like casserole? Oh, everybody likes casserole. In the next few days, you’d better expect a casserole.”

“Sure, I love casserole.” Dean shrugged, humoured somewhat by this strange, incredibly enthusiastic woman.

“Great,” Carol sighed, face still plastered with a big grin. “I hope your wife won’t mind.” Carol gestured to Dean’s wedding ring.

Dean licked his lips and started rolling his wedding band around his finger as he was put in the not unusual bet never pleasant situation of having to correct someone to explain himself.

“Husband actually,” he corrected. “And uh, he won’t mind; I do most of the cooking anyway.”

Carol clapped her hands over her mouth in a melodramatic gasp. “Oh! A husband of course! My bad! How long have you been married?” Carol said, frantically attempting to recover from her faux-pas.

“‘Bout three months.” Dean answered.

“Oh! Newlyweds!” Carol cooed, already seeming to have completely recovered from her earlier embarrassment. “Any kids?”

“Just one, he’s four.” Dean grinned proudly, his earlier reservations melting away as the joy he felt at the opportunity to talk about his family took over. “My brother’s bringing him over tomorrow once we’ve settled in.”

“Aw! So cute! So you’ve been together a while then?”

“Six months.” Dean replied honestly without thinking.

Carol paused, unable to hide her confusion as the cogs in her brain connected dots in ways her traditionally-wired brain couldn’t comprehend.

“Wow,” Carol laughed awkwardly. “You got married after three months; that’s so fast!”

There was another pause. Just then, Cas emerged from the still open front door and strolled over.

“Dean, I was wondering where you’d got to.”

“Hey Cas, come here I’m meeting the neighbours,” Dean beckoned Cas closer and placed an arm around his waist. “This is Carol from next-door.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Castiel.” Cas said, plain and business-like.

“Wait, but your son’s four?” she continued to work through her thoughts aloud. “Oh, is he from a previous relationship, or?”

“Jack?” Cas answered, trying to pick up the thread of the conversation. “No, we adopted him.”

“Before you were a couple?”

Dean figured now was the time for a little lie of convenience, undoubtedly the first of many.

“He’s the kid of a friend of ours,” Dean half-lied. “She died when he was born so we took him in; me, Cas and my brother.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about your friend,” Carol said, her confusion fading. “But that’s so sweet. Well, I won’t keep you, I’m sure you’ve got tonnes of unpacking to do!”

“Yeah, well, great to meet you Carol, see you around.” Dean said with a smile.

“You sure will, with casserole!” Carol assured before she headed off along the street.

Dean’s smile lingered as he stood there, outside the house he shared with the love of his life, who was right there pressed to his side. He let the noon sun shine down on his face and the gentle breeze flush over him.

“Dean,” Cas spoke, tentative to break Dean’s moment of euphoria. “I came out here to tell you that we left all the crockery and kitchenware at the bunker.”

“Shit.”

[rimalupin]

Sasuke x MC: Our First Christmas Tree

A/N: Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Seasons Greetings/Wonderful Winter to you all! I hope everyone’s been doing alright this winter. :) I just wanted to hop on here and repost this story I originally published last year for an IkeSeries-themed Secret Santa. While I was making my masterlist, I couldn’t find this fic for the longest time, so I just assumed it was sucked into the Tumblr void asdfghjkl. Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy some cutesy Christmas time with our or at least my favorite ninja astrophysicist. Take care! <3 

(fic below the cut)

*Also quick definition time! In a nutshell (b/c my sources are a few Japanese cultural websites that came up when I Googled the term lol), furoshiki refers to the art of Japanese gift wrapping by using fabric, which is also known by the same name. Traditionally, furoshiki was used to wrap packages and supplies for transportation, and over the years it has transformed into an element of gift-giving.

*****

Kasugayama Castle, 500 years ago, Christmas Week

“Sasuke, could you hand me some more fabric?”

“Ah, of course.” Sasuke nods before handing you a freshly cut square of light blue-dyed fabric.

“Thanks! This color will be perfect for Kenshin’s present.” You take fabric from him and proceed to snugly wrap the warlord’s gift.

Sasuke watches you observantly as you expertly fold and tie the cloth. “It was smart of you to color-code everyone’s presents. I wouldn’t have thought of using *furoshiki until you brought it up.”

“Well, it was thanks to your idea of giving everyone presents.” After giving the knot on top a final tug, you place Kenshin’s present alongside the other gifts you and Sasuke had finished wrapping. You proudly smile at the pile of gifts crowding along the wall: you knew that the hours that you and Sasuke spent shopping and preparing the presents were going to pay off on Christmas day. “I still can’t believe you managed to get yours and Nobunaga’s teams to meet up.” Let’s just hope they don’t fight the moment they see each other, you think to yourself.

“I suppose that means I am an expert in Sengoku-era party planning.” He winks - or rather blinks - at you, indicating that it was a joke. “Plus, I thought it’d be interesting to teach some of the greatest men in history about Christmas.” He places the gift he had finished wrapping in the pile as well. “We might as well give them a heads-up about the most wonderful time of the year.”

You giggle at how seriously he made that adorably silly statement. "I wonder how they’ll react to the idea of receiving their presents from ‘Santa Claus.’”

Sasuke lowers his gaze, thinking for a moment. “My guess is that they’ll believe in Santa Claus more than reindeer that can fly.”

“Ieyasu will definitely be the most skeptical about that one.” You let out a laugh as you imagine the grumpy warlord protectively holding his dear deer Wasabi. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting any of you test out that ridiculous theory,” he’d probably say. 

As your giggles die down, you turn to the window to gaze at the dark winter sky. "I'm still amazed at how bright the stars are here. They remind me of the Christmas lights from back home." 

Sasuke turns to look with you. “You’re right. Though, it’s rather difficult to see the different colors of the stars from down here. Spectroanalysis could definitely help us to see them more clearly, but Christmas lights are more widely available in stores.”

“No need for any expensive telescopes: just some outlets and a whole bunch of cords.” A wave of nostalgia begins to hit you: you think of the winter holidays you had spent with your friends and family in the future. There was always something magical about Christmas that gave you something special to look forward to in the winter. “You know, every year my family and I would decorate the Christmas tree in our living room. We’d use everything: string lights, ribbons, ornaments that we made together…” Your heart starts to ache a little when you realize that this year is your first Christmas away from your family.

Noticing your expression, Sasuke moves to sit closer to you. “That sounds like a wonderful tradition.”

“It is.” You turn to look up at him and smile. “And I can’t wait to share that tradition with everyone here.”

The smile on your face eases his concern, and he takes your hands in his. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to show you something.”

You raise your eyebrows in surprise. “Oh? Of course. What is it?”

“Come with me. And please stay close: it’s rather chilly outside, and I don’t think the snow is forecasted to stop tonight.” He begins to slowly stand up and you follow him outside, the two of you still holding hands.

~~~

As Sasuke had predicted, the snow continues to fall in a delicate descent. You feel the fresh snow lightly crunch under your feet as you and Sasuke walk out of the town and into the forest. The cold winter breeze makes you shiver, and - staying true to your promise - you move closer to Sasuke for warmth. He keeps an arm wrapped around you and checks in with you every-now-and-then to make sure that you are warm. 

Fortunately, the walk isn’t long: soon enough, the two of you are standing among several rows of flowering cherry blossom trees. You widen your eyes in awe at the beautiful sight: the pink flowers that decorate the branches are lightly brushed with the snow that had fallen throughout the day. The white snow lying below the trees and the stars glistening from above made the trees’ colors look more vibrant. “Wow,” you sigh, “I haven’t seen cherry blossoms at this time of the year.”

A small smile crosses Sasuke’s face as he admires your adorably enchanted expression. “Some cherry blossom trees do bloom outside of springtime. The ‘autumnalis rosea’, or the ‘winter-flowering cherry,’ has a long blooming season through the fall and winter.”

You continue to stare at the trees with childlike wonder. “They look so beautiful in the snow. Almost like the Christmas trees at home...”

“I agree. And although it’s not the usual evergreen conifer…” Sasuke steps closer to you and gazes at you earnestly. “Would you like to decorate a Christmas tree with me?”

“Wha-?” Just then, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a small box wrapped in cloth. You blink in surprise. “Sasuke, what is this...?”

“I was going to give it to you later, but I think that now is a more appropriate time to do so.” He places the box in your hand and gestures for you to open it. You take a breath before carefully unwrapping the cloth and opening the box. Inside is a small glass sphere painted to look like the starry night sky.

“Sasuke, this is beautiful,” you say while gently picking up the sphere by the string attached to it. As it slowly spins around, you notice that the silver spots and swirls that sparkle on the dark blue surface of the glass are lightly tinted with different colors of the stars. You also notice that the “stars” are carefully arranged and clustered in specific patterns as if to mimic constellations or a map of a galaxy. “Where did you get this...?”

“It was actually a DIY project of sorts: Yuki received some new shipments this week, and I asked if I could use some of the materials to make you a present.”

“You made this...?” Sasuke nods, a faint blush crossing his cheeks. You feel your heartbeat quicken for your loving boyfriend who never ceases to amaze you. “Sasuke, this is so thoughtful of you.” You make a mental note to give Sasuke his Christmas present early as well.

“I’m glad you like it. So,” he gestures at the tree standing in front of you both, “Will you do the honors?”

You nod enthusiastically. “I’d love to!” After handing the box back to Sasuke, you hold the ornament close to you and walk toward the tree. The nearest branch is slightly taller than you, and your fingers barely touch the lower end of the bough when you're on your tiptoes. You giggle a little, remembering the moments in your childhood when you would try to place an ornament on a branch much taller than you. Your little hands would reach as high as they could go until a loved one lifted you in their arms to help you reach the exact branch you wanted to hang your ornament from.

Noticing your struggle to reach the branch, Sasuke moves to stand beside you and grabs the branch easily, gently lowering it a bit more. You gaze up at him, your reliable and more-than-moderately awesome ninja who never fails to put a smile on your face, and you can’t help but press a light kiss on his cheek. “I like how we’re doing this together.”

He blinks in surprise before giving you a heartwarming smile. “So do I.” His hand moves to cup your cheek, gently turning you to face him so that he can press his forehead against yours. “I hope we get to do more things like this in the future.”

His cheeks grow redder when you guide his free hand to hold the ornament with you. “I know we will,” you say as you hang the ornament together.

[sparkles-and-trash]

My fav 3 versions/interpretations of South Park characters thing!

I’m so sorry this took much longer than anticipated, I was gonna do it Friday but then I had a panic attack for the first time in forever because my CFS have been real bad lately and I was in such bad shape my BFF had to come and smack me back to life, and Sunday was suddenly full on breakdown day, a bad BPD episode and yeah, it was rough, but today I’m doing better and I realize nobody really cares about my personal issues lol but I just have a need to excuse myself here and I realize that’s kinda dumb but here we are ANYWAYS I hope these are okay, and that these are in no way the RIGHT interpretations, just my personal favorites! 

Kyle:

suggested by the wonderful  @otherluces <3

#1 

I’m not gonna lie, I love nerdy, preppy Kyle. Sweater-vests, collard shirts, doesn’t realize how attractive he is Kyle, oblivious to people having crushes on him Kyle, set on Harvard to become a lawyer and fight for justice and argue for a living, yanno? 

#2 

I also really like the more dorky and nerdy Kyle, where he has really niché interests that he gets totally invested in and talks about 24/7, loves reading and studying, but not just to get good results, but because he genuinly enjoys it.

#3

The last version I can think of with him, is the tall, lanky and kinda hard to read Kyle. He keeps a lot of his feelings to himself, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them. He plays basketball, he’s good at it too, and while he does well in school and everyone expects him to go into law, he has some totally different dream he keeps to himself for now. He kinda perks up a bit when in smaller crowds, esp with his cloest friends, but he still carries a lot of secrets that some time needs to come out.

Tweek:

suggested by my new fren  @soft-craig-and-tweek ^^

I like Tweek in so many ways these were hard to pick, but I’mma try to narrow it down a bit and not go totally off haha

#1

I actually quite enjoy the jagged, tired Tweek, the one who with help from friends and family manage to get off the meth his parents feed him secretly, but who still struggle with withdrawal, dark bags under his eyes, kinda pale and with sharp features, but he’s still a sweet and kind boy, a boy who wants to make the right choices and change the world to a better place, but who still has a darkness he carries, and the fact that he never gives up that fight is what makes him so special 

#2

and okay I have to be honest, I do love myself some sunshine boy Tweek. This Tweek still has issues, he is maybe even more anxious than the last one, but he’s also just as vibrant and energetic as he is anxious! He is an artist, he paints with bright colors, he composes beautiful, hopeful melodies, he feels everything so much,  and he is a contagious and exciting person to be around. Cannot dress for the life of him. So much mis-match and odd outfits, but it kinda works? 

#3

The last one I’m gonna mention for this wonderful boy, is the more alternative Tweek. He writes obscure poetry, he watches too many conspiracy theory videos on youtube, he draws the monsters in his mind, and he writes the scariest, most hauntingly beautiful stories on the internet, and people online love him. He has no idea how to deal with being popular in that sense, because irl he is the type to not belong to a certain friend group, but he does go along well with most people on a surface level. Dark circles, shaky hands, crooked and cute smiles, baggy t-shirts and ripped jeans. When he first opens up to someone, he really, really does, and he will always support and be there for you. If you deserve it, that is. 

Nichole: 

also suggested by  @soft-craig-and-tweek <3 

#1

I love nerdy Nichole who isn’t afraid to show it! Maybe she’s a streamer or youtube gamer even, I can def see her writing fanfiction, and being hella good at it too! Makes quite a name for herself online, and hangs out with the boys a lot irl, has game nights with the boys from Board Girls (even Cartman sometimes), is funny in a sarcastic way, but never mean. 

#2

Popular girl Nichole is also a favorite for me, but not in the “classical” sense. I imagine her to be a sporty, maybe on both the basket and volleyball team, captain for the basket one, she’s a born leader, she’s kind and fair, but can also be strict, and people always trust her to be honest and true.  

#3

Artsy Nichole!! I imagine her in bright yellow dresses and with her hair flowing and free, with flowers in her hair, freckles on her face, a big, genuine smile, a loud laughter that is so contagious, she loves spending time with Jimmy because they have a very similar humor, and she’s a theater kid, she sings like an angel and can act, oh boy can she act, she can make anyone laugh or cry in just a blink of an eye, she’s just a human sun-ray and I love her a lot 

Butters: 

suggested by @kinguidamundo, thank you so much!! 

#1

I love edgy Butters soooo much??? Like, he’s still a kind and bright boy, but he can also stand up for himself a lot more, he likes fashion a lot, he gets tattoos and piercings, he explores tons of ways to express himself, he’s a yes-dude, he goes out on dates a lot, but isn’t ready for a “real” relationship yet, but he enjoys meeting people and testing out himself around different types of people! Also he is a bi icon change my mind jk u can’t 

#2

I have a weak spot for the kind of soft and timid looking Butters too, who wears pastel colors and have big, innocent eyes, he is genuine and kind, but he carries something darker inside, something he isn’t sure how to deal with, something that scares him, but in reality it’s just normal feelings, anger, resentment and fear, but he’s lived his life ignoring them so much they catch him off guard at times. He learns to live with them slowly, and he does so with lots of help and patience from friends and loved ones. 

#3

Okay, last one, totally self-indulging here, but yeah, happy sunflower boy is also a big favorite. He is more confident than the previous version, but in a gullible way if that makes any sense? He believes the best in people, and if he is proven wrong, he’s willing to try to help them become better people, if they want to or not! This is honestly the version I love most with Stan, Butters being the ray of sunshine in Stan’s life and Stan being the realism to keep Butters grounded and them both supporting each other so much? Fuck yeah that’s the good stuff. 

Clyde:

suggested by @horrorpumpkin, ty sm friend! <3 

#1

Himbo Clyde!!! Jock dude who genuinely loves sports, he’s a team player, and while he might not be super intellectual, he is very socially smart, he is kind and empathic, he is funny and likable, he always tries his best to make everyone feel included, and while he loves chicks a lot, and is a sexual dude, he does it with nothing but respect and admiration for the ladies! 

#2

Bisexual disaster Clydeeee <3 obv being bi isn’t a personality trait, but he is very open about it, he wants to be confident and good at flirting, but goddamn is he a MESS! He’s also a huge supporter of every single relationship his friends is in, he loves love, in all shapes and forms, he is emotional and kind and awkward in an endearing way. 

#3

Can’t leave out crybaby Clyde, can we now? He’s a bit of an awkward bean as well, but he owns it a bit more. He is kinda like a puppy, a cute, excitable and emotional puppy who loves his friends, video games and lazy movie nights, kinda chubby, he loves baking and does it a lot with Tweek, he is also a huge nerd for Harry Potter and totally geek out over it with Kyle and Nichole sdhlksgdhl

Kenny: 

suggested by anon! 

#1

First up I guess I should put my high school AU Kenny. I know it’s controversial, but I imagine this Kenny to be more on the quiet side, but not really in a shy way. He’s just a bit of an observer who doesn’t speak unless he really sees fit, and while he still has his crude humor and is kinda rumored to be sleeping around a lot, he actually struggle with intimacy issues. He never imagined them to include sexual stuff, but turns out they do, and balancing being sexually open and curious and having these issues ain’t easy on the boy, let me tell you that. 

#2

This one is kinda heavily inspired by Luces, but I love him as kind and loyal, but also a bit more chatty and charming, but not for his own gain. He wants others to feel good about themselves, in social settings, his friends, during sexy times, he is selfless and good, but he is also living for the moment, he is a likable and wonderful guy, but he does still only REALLY open up emotionally to people he really trusts. Not traditionally attractive, but interesting looking in a way. Lots of freckles, bit of buck teeth with a big gap between his front teeth, messy kinda curly hair, long straight nose. Always wears baggy hoodies and worn out jeans, shrugs and gives that lopsided smile when people ask him about anything personal.

#3

Mysterious Kennyyyy. You think you know him, everyone does, but in reality, very few have seen the real him. He likes people, and he likes to help them, he’s always down to listen to people’s problems and help them, he wants to inspire kids like himself to never give up and think there’s only one path for them, because he knows there is not. Volunteers at the animal shelter with Stan, works part time at Tweek Bro’s and is good buddies with Tweek. Had a early sexual debut, slept around a bit and got his heart broken unexpectedly when he was a Freshman, so there are some walls there now, but he ain’t usually one to turn down someone who’s up for it and whom with he has good chemistry either. 

[forallyourikemensengokuneeds]

Title: Our First Christmas Tree

Fandom: Ikemen Sengoku

Suitor: Sasuke Sarutobi

To: Angelina (@suckerforsasuke)

From: Rima (@rimalupin)

A/N: Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Wonderful Wintertime, Angelina! It is I, your Secret Santa! :D I hope you enjoy this little present and that you have a wonderful rest of your winter/holiday~. <3

*Also quick definition time! In a nutshell (b/c my sources are a few Japanese cultural websites that came up when I Googled the term lol), furoshiki refers to the art of Japanese gift wrapping by using fabric, which is also known by the same name. Traditionally, furoshiki was used to wrap packages and supplies for transportation, and over the years it has transformed into an element of gift-giving.

*****

Kasugayama Castle, 500 years ago, Christmas Week

“Sasuke, could you hand me some more fabric?”

“Ah, of course.” Sasuke nods before handing you a freshly cut square of light blue-dyed fabric.

“Thanks! This color will be perfect for Kenshin’s present.” You take fabric from him and proceed to snugly wrap the warlord’s gift.

Sasuke watches you observantly as you expertly fold and tie the cloth. “It was smart of you to color-code everyone’s presents. I wouldn’t have thought of using *furoshiki until you brought it up.”

“Well, it was thanks to your idea of giving everyone presents.” After giving the knot on top a final tug, you place Kenshin’s present alongside the other gifts you and Sasuke had finished wrapping. You proudly smile at the pile of gifts crowding along the wall: you knew that the hours that you and Sasuke spent shopping and preparing the presents were going to pay off on Christmas day. “I still can’t believe you managed to get yours and Nobunaga’s teams to meet up.” Let’s just hope they don’t fight the moment they see each other, you think to yourself.

“I suppose that means I am an expert in Sengoku-era party planning.” He winks - or rather blinks - at you, indicating that it was a joke. “Plus, I thought it’d be interesting to teach some of the greatest men in history about Christmas.” He places the gift he had finished wrapping in the pile as well. “We might as well give them a heads-up about the most wonderful time of the year.”

You giggle at how seriously he made that adorably silly statement. "I wonder how they’ll react to the idea of receiving their presents from ‘Santa Claus.’”

Sasuke lowers his gaze, thinking for a moment. “My guess is that they’ll believe in Santa Claus more than reindeer that can fly.”

“Ieyasu will definitely be the most skeptical about that one.” You let out a laugh as you imagine the grumpy warlord protectively holding his dear deer Wasabi. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting any of you test out that ridiculous theory,” he’d probably say. 

As your giggles die down, you turn to the window to gaze at the dark winter sky. "I'm still amazed at how bright the stars are here. They remind me of the Christmas lights from back home." 

Sasuke turns to look with you. “You’re right. Though, it’s rather difficult to see the different colors of the stars from down here. Spectroanalysis could definitely help us to see them more clearly, but Christmas lights are more widely available in stores.”

“No need for any expensive telescopes: just some outlets and a whole bunch of cords.” A wave of nostalgia begins to hit you: you think of the winter holidays you had spent with your friends and family in the future. There was always something magical about Christmas that gave you something special to look forward to in the winter. “You know, every year my family and I would decorate the Christmas tree in our living room. We’d use everything: string lights, ribbons, ornaments that we made together…” Your heart starts to ache a little when you realize that this year is your first Christmas away from your family.

Noticing your expression, Sasuke moves to sit closer to you. “That sounds like a wonderful tradition.”

“It is.” You turn to look up at him and smile. “And I can’t wait to share that tradition with everyone here.”

The smile on your face eases his concern, and he takes your hands in his. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to show you something.”

You raise your eyebrows in surprise. “Oh? Of course. What is it?”

“Come with me. And please stay close: it’s rather chilly outside, and I don’t think the snow is forecasted to stop tonight.” He begins to slowly stand up and you follow him outside, the two of you still holding hands.

~~~

As Sasuke had predicted, the snow continues to fall in a delicate descent. You feel the fresh snow lightly crunch under your feet as you and Sasuke walk out of the town and into the forest. The cold winter breeze makes you shiver, and - staying true to your promise - you move closer to Sasuke for warmth. He keeps an arm wrapped around you and checks in with you every-now-and-then to make sure that you are warm. 

Fortunately, the walk isn’t long: soon enough, the two of you are standing among several rows of flowering cherry blossom trees. You widen your eyes in awe at the beautiful sight: the pink flowers that decorate the branches are lightly brushed with the snow that had fallen throughout the day. The white snow lying below the trees and the stars glistening from above made the trees’ colors look more vibrant. “Wow,” you sigh, “I haven’t seen cherry blossoms at this time of the year.”

A small smile crosses Sasuke’s face as he admires your adorably enchanted expression. “Some cherry blossom trees do bloom outside of springtime. The ‘autumnalis rosea’, or the ‘winter-flowering cherry,’ has a long blooming season through the fall and winter.”

You continue to stare at the trees with childlike wonder. “They look so beautiful in the snow. Almost like the Christmas trees at home...”

“I agree. And although it’s not the usual evergreen conifer…” Sasuke steps closer to you and gazes at you earnestly. “Would you like to decorate a Christmas tree with me?”

“Wha-?” Just then, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a small box wrapped in cloth. You blink in surprise. “Sasuke, what is this...?”

“I was going to give it to you later, but I think that now is a more appropriate time to do so.” He places the box in your hand and gestures for you to open it. You take a breath before carefully unwrapping the cloth and opening the box. Inside is a small glass sphere painted to look like the starry night sky.

“Sasuke, this is beautiful,” you say while gently picking up the sphere by the string attached to it. As it slowly spins around, you notice that the silver spots and swirls that sparkle on the dark blue surface of the glass are lightly tinted with different colors of the stars. You also notice that the “stars” are carefully arranged and clustered in specific patterns as if to mimic constellations or a map of a galaxy. “Where did you get this...?”

“It was actually a DIY project of sorts: Yuki received some new shipments this week, and I asked if I could use some of the materials to make you a present.”

“You made this...?” Sasuke nods, a faint blush crossing his cheeks. You feel your heartbeat quicken for your loving boyfriend who never ceases to amaze you. “Sasuke, this is so thoughtful of you.” You make a mental note to give Sasuke his Christmas present early as well.

“I’m glad you like it. So,” he gestures at the tree standing in front of you both, “Will you do the honors?”

You nod enthusiastically. “I’d love to!” After handing the box back to Sasuke, you hold the ornament close to you and walk toward the tree. The nearest branch is slightly taller than you, and your fingers barely touch the lower end of the bough when you're on your tiptoes. You giggle a little, remembering the moments in your childhood when you would try to place an ornament on a branch much taller than you. Your little hands would reach as high as they could go until a loved one lifted you in their arms to help you reach the exact branch you wanted to hang your ornament from.

Noticing your struggle to reach the branch, Sasuke moves to stand beside you and grabs the branch easily, gently lowering it a bit more. You gaze up at him, your reliable and more-than-moderately awesome ninja who never fails to put a smile on your face, and you can’t help but press a light kiss on his cheek. “I like how we’re doing this together.”

He blinks in surprise before giving you a heartwarming smile. “So do I.” His hand moves to cup your cheek, gently turning you to face him so that he can press his forehead against yours. “I hope we get to do more things like this in the future.”

His cheeks grow redder when you guide his free hand to hold the ornament with you. “I know we will,” you say as you hang the ornament together.

[crystallized-iron]

Promised Love Chapter Eleven

Masterlist

His husbands’ home was beautifully designed, the lovely wooden shades in the walls nearly took Tony’s breath away. His father’s had been grayish, kept as clean as possible so that no dust could interfere with the machinery they tinkered with. House Rogers felt warm, welcoming, Obadiah’s warnings being forgotten as he was shown around the place. The dining hall had several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, paintings of past relatives adorning the walls. The wooden chairs were fitted with incredibly comfortable cushions.

They spent little time in the kitchen, Bucky getting stopped by the head chef for a quick conversation as Steve led Tony out into the next hall. Tony couldn’t really focus on anything Steve was saying to him, his eyes always landing on the next interesting thing they passed. Steve brought him to the drawing room, silently watching as his husband strolled around the room, slowly spinning the globe sitting on the desk as he came to it. “You have a beautiful home,” Tony murmured, keeping his gaze on the separate land masses littering the sea.

“We do,” Steve corrected him again. “Don’t forget, this is your home now too. You married us, so everything in here? It’s yours too.”

Tony stopped to look at him. “Everything?”

“Everything.”

“Does that mean anything of mine is yours too?” he wanted to know.

Steve took a moment to think that over. “Not yet… I want you to feel comfortable here, so we won’t pry. We don’t need to know what you packed up, because I’m certain there’s things you aren’t ready to share with us yet. Maybe one day you will, but it will be your choice.”

“Why are you saying that everything of yours is mine though, if the opposite isn’t true?”

“Because we have nothing to hide from you,” Steve told him. “You’ll learn everything about us eventually, with or without us saying something.” He started walking closer. “Things have been rather quiet lately, but people are going to want to meet you, and maybe it will spark some interest in following my father’s path, maybe recreate something like the Howling Commandos.” Tony felt his heart skip a beat when Steve took his hands. “Do you think you could go with us down that path, or would you rather be like my mother was, and kept mostly in the dark? She knew a few details, but I don’t think he ever told her everything he was up to. I even learned some new things myself when I finally looked through his journal.”

“I… I don’t know…” Tony said, staring at their hands. “Isn’t it a bit… early to ask me this?”

“Maybe it is…” Steve agreed, “but you only have perhaps a few months to decide your answer.”

“Then give me that time? Please?”

“Alright, alright, I will,” Steve assured him, letting go. “I want you to think about it though, please. Maybe ask my mother how she dealt with it. I know she wouldn’t be happy that I am indeed following what he did, but… I have to.”

Tony took a single step back as he asked, “Why do you have to?”

“Because what they did to Bucky, what they were going to have him do, I can never forgive that.”

“What was who…”

“Pierce…” The name came out almost like a growl, and then Steve added, “He had Bucky trained as a child to kill…”

“I don’t believe you.”

The response was quick. Steve didn’t want to include what Bucky had confided to him after seeing Obadiah Stane again, but it was so tempting to use to try and form a break between Tony and his ‘uncle’. “It’s the truth,” he said instead. “You’ll realize that soon enough.”

“Pierce… Alexander, right? He’s my uncle’s friend.”

“He’s a monster,” Steve stated. “The whole city knows it.”

Tony shook his head, looking at the globe again. Steve let out a sigh as he walked to the door, ready to just leave his husband there, but he stopped. “Do you want to see the rest of the place?” he asked.

“Not really,” Tony told him. “Are we sharing a room?”

“Traditionally, yes,” Steve answered, “but if the idea makes you uncomfortable, we don’t have to. Bucky and I will definitely be sharing a room and bed though. You can wait until you’re ready.”

“And if I’m never ready?” Tony wondered.

“Then we never share a room with you.”

“And we don’t consummate the marriage?”

“If that is what you want,” said Steve.

Tony finally glanced at him again. “You and Bucky would really be okay with that?”

“I never said he and I won’t be consummating anything. This is just about your part in this relationship,” he clarified.

There was a spark of pain, gone just as quickly as he felt it, and Tony nodded. He couldn’t understand why he felt upset that the others already planned on keeping him separate from their own activities. It was as though he was never actually a welcome part of their future, like they kept the arrangement just to use him and his intelligence.

Having it be thrown in front of him so obviously just hurt.

“Will you show me to my room then, please?” he asked Steve.

Steve waited for Tony to approach him, taking his arm and leading him through the halls, up the stairs. Not far from the staircase, they stopped, and Steve turned the knob on one of the doors and opened it to a glorious bedroom, the bed big enough for three, lace curtains hanging from tall bedposts. There was a single window overlooking the city and the clocktower. The dresser held a beautiful mirror, an intricate moulding of flowers adorning the edges, matching the dresser’s legs. There was a soft looking rug covering most of the hardwood floor, a rich red with gold designs.

Tony had to admit the room was beautiful, but it didn’t lessen the dampening of his heart.

“Thank you,” he murmured, walking inside, finding his trunk was sitting on the opposite side of the dresser.

“Of course… Would you want to join us for dinner later?”

“No… thank you.”

“Alright… Our room is one door down from yours, Tony. Have a good evening.”

“Sure…”

He listened to Steve’s steps as the man walked away before collapsing on the bed, not even bothering with the door. He shouldn’t be feeling anything short of relief that they weren’t going to be pursuing him.

And yet… it still felt as though the arrangement was convenient for them. Rogers would be following after his father, and Tony… he would fill the role of genius inventor for his husband, right? How nice for Rogers and his goals.

Tony felt even less welcome here as a part of their family now.

***** ***** *****

Dinner came and passed, quiet and uneventful without the young genius around. Bucky had hoped they could talk, but when Steve told him that their new husband would not be coming down…

He was silent as they went to their room that night, passing Steve when he opened the door. He sat on the bed, staring at his boots, barely hearing as the door shut and only moving his eyes when he noticed Steve stop in front of him.

“Buck, are you alright?” Steve asked.

“Why did you have to upset him already?” Bucky questioned.

“Bucky, I was being honest with him,” his husband argued.

“What exactly did you say that made him not want to spend time with us at all?”

“That even if he chose to never share a room with us, that didn’t mean that we weren’t going to, even if he never wanted to consummate the marriage -”

“Oh gods, you fucking idiot,” Bucky muttered. “Now I don’t even want to.”

“I was being honest with him,” Steve said again.

“You made it sound like he’s unwanted!” Sighing so he could try and reign in some of his emotion, Bucky spoke again. “Look, he’s already overwhelmed with enough shit, he doesn’t need to feel like he’s not wanted too.”

“I was trying to make sure he wouldn’t feel pressured, Buck. That’s all.”

“Fine, but… can this,” he gestured between them, “wait until tomorrow night then? Fix things with him in the morning, please.”

“Alright,” Steve told him. “Do you want to be with there when I do speak with him again then?”

“Yeah, I do,” Bucky said, pulling Steve down onto the bed beside him. “Someone has to make sure you don’t screw up again, punk.”

“I won’t screw up again.”

“Sure you won’t.”

“And if I do?” Steve wondered, placing a gentle kiss to Bucky’s cheek. “What would you do?”

“Probably have to slap some sense into ya,” Bucky answered, moving for Steve when his lips began to trace down his neck. “Mm, Steve, I said…”

“I know what you said…”

“And you’re still…”

“Do you want me to stop?”

Pushing him back some, Bucky replied, “Yeah, I want you to stop.” He waited for Steve to back up a little more before he added, “Maybe in the morning if I’m not still mad at you.”

Chuckling, Steve told him, “Alright.” He brushed his lips against Bucky’s then, whispering, “Goodnight, husband.”

Bucky didn’t try to hide his grin at the now official title. “To you as well, husband.”

They settled on the bed together, the covers being brought up to their shoulders. It was their first time even sharing a bed together like this. Should they… do something? “Goodnight,” they both said again, now feeling a tad bit awkward over the change in arrangement. With enough space between them, they both tried to sleep for the night, eventually accomplishing the usually minor task.

As morning came, the sun peeked in through a small crack between the curtains, happening to shine on Bucky’s face. When it became too bright to simply continue sleeping, Bucky let out a groan and turned onto his side, his hand landing on the warm body next to him. He frowned, his mind still foggy from sleep, opening his eyes to see just what, or who, he accidentally tapped his hand. He blinked at Steve’s face, the man still sleeping peacefully beside him, and finally the events from yesterday came back to him.

They were married.

Tony was living with them.

They never consummated the marriage.

It felt silly now to worry about it. Steve had been right, after all, that whether Tony wanted to participate in that part of the relationship or not, they were still going to do it. Steve just needed to word it better, maybe. Maybe.

He ran his fingers down Steve’s chest, his abdomen, feeling the muscles underneath. Bucky began to blush as he tried to imagine what the first time together might really be like. He's had dreams, of course, who hasn’t? But the real thing, he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.

Would it really be as great as people made it out to be?

Steve began to stir beneath his touch, slowly opening his eyes and blinking up at him. “Hey…”

Bucky smiled and gave him a kiss. “Morning…”

“The sun wake you…?” Steve sleepily asked as he rubbed at his eyes. “Sorry… Maybe I should have been on that side.”

“It's alright, I didn't mind much,” Bucky told him. “I had time to think, maybe a little too much.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… our first time…” Bucky tried to explain. “I feel kind of anxious.”

“Oh?” Steve stretched, trying to wake up more so he could better focus on the conversation.

“Yeah… Will it really be good? Do we even…” he cleared his throat, “do we even, um… know… how…?”

Steve stared at Bucky, thinking about what he just said. “Did you just ask if we know how to have sex?”

“I did, now shut up,” Bucky groaned in embarrassment.

Steve was quiet for a few minutes, eventually saying, “Well, I understand the reproduction, with a woman.”

“Did you…” Bucky began to ask, but Steve shook his head.

“You didn't pay much attention to those lessons.”

“Lessons… Oh.”

“Mother thought you would go out, meet a girl, and give her a child and not even understand how.”

Rolling his eyes, Bucky muttered, “That's never gonna happen…”

“Yeah, because you married me,” Steve agreed, grinning up at him. “Pretty sure neither of us are going to end up with child.”

“Our third neither…”

“Don’t tell him you called him that.”

Bucky nodded. “Yeah. We still need to talk to him… Think he’s up?”

“Nah… he probably stayed up too late. Sun’s just come up anyway, right? Let him sleep some more. If he comes out of his room, we’ll talk to him then. Don’t want to just…”

“Walk in uninvited?” Bucky finished for him. “Yeah.” Hovering a little more over his husband, Bucky asked, “What should we do until then, hm?”

Steve reached up, twirling a few strands of Bucky’s hair around his finger. “Want a wedding morning since we didn’t have a wedding night? Still nervous?”

“Of course I’m still nervous…” Leaning closer, he whispered, “But I trust you, Steven…”

Steve closed the gap between them, pulling Bucky into a kiss that almost had the man falling onto his spouse. A break apart and a murmured, “I love you”, before their lips met again. It wasn’t long before Steve tried pushing his tongue passed his beloved’s lips, and Bucky allowed the small bit of exploration...

*** ~ *** ~ *** ~ *** ~ ***

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[sarahh-ahhbroad]

June 23, 2018

For the second half of my study tour we headed to London, England! I've always wanted to visit London, and although I had a really fun few days there this week, it's still somewhere I feel like I need to go back to since there was a lot I didn't see. We left Oslo on Tuesday evening, and arrived in London a little past dinner time. We stayed at the St. Giles Hotel which was right near the Tottenham Court Road tube station which was a fantastic location. My friend, Grace, who was my roommate on Utoya and is a senior soccer player at Occidental, and I headed to a nearby Shake Shack (yum!) for dinner and then joined a larger group of students from our class and went to Simmons, a nearby cocktail bar. 

The next morning we woke up and after eating breakfast were informed our first activity of the day had been delayed. The delay gave us two hours of free time, so a group of us took immediate advantage and headed down to the London Eye. We walked down Charing Cross Road and passed by many of London’s theaters, Leicester Square, the National Gallery, and Trafalgar Square. 

National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

View of the Eye across the Thames River

Because it was a Wednesday morning, there was hardly a line to get on the Eye. The weather was quite overcast - very typical London weather, but we ended up having a fine view of London. 

View facing south from the top of the Eye - you can see Parliament and Big Ben covered in scaffolding. 

London County Hall

Colorado kiddos in London!

West view from the Eye

View from Jubilee Bridge. 

Once we met back at the hotel, we headed to a nearby restaurant to meet with Usama Hasan, a member of Quilliam, a counter-extremist organization. Usama is an Imam and handles guiding religious reform in Islam. They also serve as a sort of PR-front for the Islamic community after terrorist attacks. Usama was extremely nice and very convicted in his faith, and works to discourage false and extremist interpretations of their Quaran. 

After our meeting with Quilliam, we headed to my favorite part of the whole trip - a bike tour! We all got bikes and followed a tour guide from Kensington Palace and Gardens to Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace. We passed lots of famous London landmarks, and our tour guides made an effort to also take us by monuments related to war and terrorism in London. After biking so much in Copenhagen, biking throughout London was a piece of cake. 

Following our guide through one of the many parks we biked through.

Kensington Palace

Wellington Arch

Memorial for terror attack carried out by IRA in 1982

7/7 Memorial - each pillar has a place and time of the bombing for each victim

Princess Diana Memorial - it had dozens of children playing in the water feature, which is the shape of a tear drop. 

Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Concert Hall behind it

Buckingham Palace!

After the bike tour, we were on our own for the rest of the night. I went with Grace and Jacob, a UNC student, to Homeslice, a pizza place Grace’s parents had recommended near Convent Gardens. While we waited for our table, we went to The Crown, a traditional British pub located right next to the Seven Dials, for a beer. The Convent Gardens area is really, really cute, I wish I had a chance to wander through it. After an amazing dinner of pizza and wine, our friend Jeff joined us and we headed to O’Neill’s, a bar that several students who had studied in London previously all recommended to us. Coincidentally, two brothers I know who live in Aspen were in London at the same time, and met all of us at the bar. The bar was really fun and it was such a fun night hanging out with everyone. 

The Seven Dials - center point where seven streets meet in Covent Gardens

Our first stop on Thursday was to talk with Margaret Gilmore, a former BBC correspondent who covered the 7/7 bombings. Today, she works as an analyst and an author. She gave a presentation on that day and how she went about reporting the story in all of the chaos. BBC traditionally does not allow reporters to say the word “terrorism” on the network, but on 7/7 during her coverage she did indeed refer to terrorists. I found BBC’s approach really interesting, since it’s so different than American news, but they claim that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, and their reservations in using “the T-word” is an attempt to be politically correct. She also discussed the police’s task of figuring out who was responsible for the bombs and their counter-terrorism measures following 7/7. 

We then ate a quick lunch before heading to Finsbury Park Mosque. I actually had never heard of this mosque before my London visit, but I learned that after Mecca, this mosque is probably the second-best known in the world. It became infamous in the late 1990s and early 2000s for a radical head Imam, but since 2005, has been in entirely different control. The mosque has tried to become a key asset to their neighborhood and raises an astounding amount of money which all gets poured into their local community. Our main speaker was Mohammed Kozbar, and his meeting before us was with the British Prime Minister, so I felt very important getting to spend a few hours with him. I had also never been inside a mosque before, but we got to go all the way up to their main area of prayer and service on the top floor for our presentation. I really enjoyed the visit because I think many people in my generation don’t fully grasp the strength of religious convictions and in today’s world I think understanding world conflicts in the context of the beliefs which provoke them is important. 

Later that evening we all went to a very nice group dinner before we headed out for a Thursday night on the town as a class. Many of us had a very, very late night in the London clubs, so Friday morning was a bit of a struggle!

Our only scheduled activity on Friday was a walking tour of East London’s Street Art. This was something I may not have done if I was planning a trip to London, but it ended up being really cool. Our guide was from a group called Alternative London and she was awesome - at the end of the tour let us play around with spray paint in their facility. The street art throughout East London is abundant and really unique, and we got to see a Banksy piece which apparently is worth millions of dollars.

A wall with Banksy’s work

There are so many diverse works throughout the streets of East London.

After our group lunch, we had the rest of the afternoon free. Jeff, Grace, Haley, Brooke, Jess, and I decided to head over to Westminster Abbey and Parliament and do a little last-minute sight-seeing. Unfortunately, Big Ben was completely covered in scaffolding, so we didn’t really get to see it. We walked over the Westminster Bridge to get Froyo at a really cute place called Snog we had spotted when we went to the Eye. After enjoying a sweet snack, we walked back over the Jubilee Bridge and meandered back to the hotel. We stopped to take a few typical tourist pictures in a telephone booth. By the time we got back to the hotel to catch the bus to the airport, we were absolutely exhausted. Our three days in London were eventful to say the least.

Westminster Abbey - where Will & Kate got married!!

House of Parliament 

Snogging!

Me, Haley, Jeff, Jess, & Grace!

Herman Melville’s home!

London, you will be missed!

[sroloc--elbisivni]

RvB: A Red Team Celebration

@redvsbluesecretsanta

Merry Christmas, @mercuryblacksleg! Hope you like your Secret Santa gift!

Summary: Red Team doesn’t exactly do holidays traditionally, or tastefully, but they never fail in their enthusiasm. Featuring Lopez the Christmas tree, lights on a Warthog, and a thirty-foot menorah made out of flamethrowers. Gen fluff. Light Grimmons, light sarge/grey.

“Uh. Excuse me, but what the fuck.”

Donut looked up from where he was stringing popcorn onto a needle to see Grif and Simmons staring from the doorway.

“What?” Donut said serenely, threading another piece of popcorn before holding up the string to eyeball it. “It’s traditional. Here, Lopez, hold this for me?”

”No.”

Donut sighed, sticking the end to Lopez’s head with a piece of tape instead, just below the star. “Hmm. Now I know size doesn’t matter, but this could really use a few more inches.”

Grif was still staring, but now his hand was creeping towards the popcorn bowl, so Donut had to smack him away. “Honestly, Grif, I know you love choking it down, but you can walk to the kitchen. I’m using that.”

Simmons, his head poking through the door from behind Grif, blinked. “Is—what happens when he walks away?”

“He won’t. After Sarge got done with him, it turns out he won’t be able to walk for days!”

Lopez rotated his head, disturbing the tinsel around his neck and sending a few pieces scattering on the floor. The ornaments Donut had taped on a few minutes ago jingled, but didn’t fall off. ”Help me. Please.”

“Oh, Lopez, don’t be ridiculous. We can’t add the lights yet. Sarge hasn’t finished painting them all red!”

Grif came back from the kitchen, holding popcorn. “Okay. I’m probably going to regret this, but one question: why.”

“I told you. It’s traditional.”

Simmons made a face. “No, trees are traditional. This—I don’t know what this is, I think it might be cruelty to robots.”

”Thank you.”

“Not that it really matters, since Lopez doesn’t care.”

“I will pour motor oil on the things you love.”

“Do you see any trees around here?” Donut waved one hand to indicate the room, as well as the general idea of ‘island in the middle of nowhere.’ “And aw, Lopez, that’s sweet!”

“What is?”

“He said he loves us.”

Simmons pulled off a dubious expression very well. Half of his face being metal really helped.

“Huh.” Grif stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth, looking thoughtful. “Got any more of those lights?” He moved the bowl out of Simmons’ reach before he could grab some.

“Sarge took all of ours, but I think Blue Team still has some from that whole Caboose debacle.”

“Cool. See you later.” Grif took the bowl of popcorn with him.

Donut went back to stringing on popcorn, humming Christmas music. That didn’t mean he missed Simmons’ hand sneaking towards the bowl.

“Ow! Donut!”

“Oh, stop whining. It wasn’t even anywhere tender.”

Carolina hadn’t really stopped for the holidays in a long time, before Chorus. There was always somewhere to be, things to do, people to hunt down, information to find, training. Always something.

And then she had stumbled into a corner of Armonia where someone had carefully framed a computer chip on the wall, a piece of masking tape stuck onto it reading “ תוֹרָה.” On the table beneath it had been a single lamp, powered by a jury-rigged battery.

Carolina remembered standing at the doorway of that little room for a long, long time.

Now she was standing at the doorway of the base, and had been for a long time, but for a very different reason.

“Sarge,” she said, finally. “That...I appreciate the offer, but I don’t--it doesn’t need to be that much fire.”

Sarge looked up from where he was using a sledgehammer and stakes to make sure the last flamethrower was secured completely to the welded-together scrap metal. Carolina could barely see him in the gathering dark. “What?”

Carolina sighed, and took a deep breath to raise her voice. “It doesn’t need that much fire!”

“WHAT?”

Carolina cupped her hands around her mouth. “IT--DOESN’T--NEED--” She stopped shouting and looked again.

Sarge was working on the last of nine upright, oversized flamethrowers he and Simmons had spent most of the day modifying after she had asked--naïvely--if the base had any candles laying around, because she wanted to put together a menorah. The answer had been no. Or, more accurately, the answer had been no, and then Sarge getting a very worrying glint in his eye.

And now there was a giant menorah of scrap metal and flamethrowers put together on the lawn in front of Red Base. She could just barely see where Simmons was hanging onto the far left one, hitting it with a wrench.

It was ridiculous. It was probably going to blow up in a few hours.

And it was...actually kind of sweet.

“YOU KNOW WHAT? NEVER MIND.”

Grif came up behind her, munching on something. “Has anything blown up yet?”

“Surprisingly, no.” Carolina tipped her head to the side, watching as Simmons almost fell off. He and Sarge shouted at each other for a few more minutes before Sarge climbed down.

“HEY!” Simmons squawked. “I’M STILL--NO NONONONONON--”

Simmons did fall off this time, as Sarge started cackling maniacally, and ended up rolling onto the ground. Carolina could admit that at least all the Reds and Blues knew how to fall properly.

“I’m okay!”

“Nerd,” Grif mumbled, around a mouthful of something. “Oh, hey. Here.”

Carolina looked down to see him offering an unopened bag of potato chips. “What’s this for?”

“Simmons said you eat fried potato things. Right?” He sounded a little bit uncertain.

Carolina took the bag of chips, trying not to laugh. “Thank, Grif. It means a lot.”

“HEY! ARE WE GONNA LIGHT THIS THING OR WHAT?”

“Wait! I’m getting the cookies!” Donut rushed past with a dish of cookies that Carolina was reasonably sure--when she squinted--were frosted dreidels.

Well then.

Grif gestured with his own bag of chips. “After you.”

The remote starter Sarge had put together worked perfectly, so after Carolina had stumbled her way through the songs she could just barely remember, the buttons were pushed so first the center, then the far left spout went up in flames.

Donut clapped excitedly. Grif swiped a cookie. Sarge cackled.

“Wait,” Carolina said, as realization hit her. “Where’s Lopez?”

“I hate all of you.”

Dr. Grey made a thoughtful sound as she examined the setup. “Is that…comfortable?”

“No. This entire situation is despicable. If I had a nervous system, I would be ready to rip it out just to end the suffering.”

“Lopez says he’s snug as a bug in a rug, Dr. Grey!”

“If you’re sure,” she said, already moving on. “Ooh, Donut, those look lovely.”

“My aunt Agatha’s own recipe,” he replied, cheerfully. “And let me say again just how glad we are to have you here for the holidays, Dr. Grey.”

“Oh, just call me Emily. After all, I’m not here to patch you up!”

“Well I’d be happy to take a checkup from you anytime.”

Grif had already absconded with a plate of cookies to sit by the TV, where Simmons was arguing holiday movie selections with Caboose. No one was sure why Caboose was there. No one really knew how to get rid of him.

“No—Caboose, we’re not going to watch Love Actually. It doesn’t even count as a Christmas movie.”

“Yes it does. It is snowing. So it is Christmas.”

Carolina, from where she was watching the whole thing, snorted into her cocoa.

“It’s not—Grif, back me up here.”

“Hey, I said we should watch Die Hard.”

Simmons sputtered. “That’s even less of a Christmas movie.”

“Ooh! Stranger Things!”

“No!” Simmons put his head in his hands. “Look. Can’t we all agree on one terrible stop-motion animation Christmas special?”

“That shit is nightmare fuel,” Grif complained.

“We’ve almost died like, ten times in the past year, and that’s what you’re calling nightmare fuel?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I do not want the little elf to pull my teeth,” Caboose said seriously.

“I hate all of you,” Simmons said, flatly. “I mean it this time. I really do.”

Grif shrugged and ate another cookie.

The door to the base slammed open, heralding Sarge’s entrance. “Treason! Disaster! Subterfuge!”

The room looked up at him.

“Those filthy blues have covered our warthog—the great and mighty transportation of the Red Army—in lights! Of the worst color—blue!”

Grif quietly collected the plate of cookies and tried to sneak towards the door.

“Private Grif! What kind of desertion are you trying to pull?”

“Desertion?” Grif said, tone innocent as he could manage. “No desertion. Just going to investigate. Sir.”

“Hmph.” Sarge looked like he wanted to argue, but Grif figured the combined opportunity to get rid of him, plus the idea of figuring out what was going on, was too good to pass up. “Well. I suppose even you have to be useful sometimes, Private Grif. On accident. Barely.”

Grif rolled his eyes and grabbed another couple of cookies off of Donut’s tray before vanishing out the door.

It was quiet and dark out—aside from the five lit flamethrowers on the menorah. Carolina had pointed out that they only needed to burn for half an hour, but when they had all stared at her, she had added, “…but they can always go for longer, I guess.”

Grif took his cookies well away from the giant columns of fire, heading for the Warthog covered in Christmas lights.  

He hadn’t been the one who changed them all to blue. He would have done it, if he’d thought of it, but he hadn’t. So sue him.

Point was, Grif hadn’t done it. And the only one who’d been out here since they’d gone inside after lighting up the menorah had been Sarge. So either it was the Blues pulling a prank—which, Tucker and Wash were alone in their base with Caboose gone, so Grif would bet they were busy—or someone else.

Grif was betting on the someone else.

He put the plate of cookies on part of the frame while he climbed up into the back, legs dangling off the edge. His heels kicked, almost absent-mindedly, and Grif pulled a gingerbread cookie off the plate to bite the limbs off while he watched the dark.

It was almost easier watching for this without a helmet. Seeing the world through a visor, you got used to distortion, little ripples flickering around everything. It was harder to pick out what didn’t belong.

Bare-eyed, he could see the soft flicker of camouflaged armor moving towards the Warthog.

There were a few loud creaks, and the Warthog shifted as weight pressed on one side of its frame, but the air next to Grif still looked pretty empty.

“Dude,” Grif said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t care what kind of superpowers you’ve got. If you want one of these, you’re gonna have to take the helmet off.”

There was a long pause, and then Locus’ familiar armor shimmered into view, and his hands reached up to pull off his helmet.

You look like shit, Grif kind of wanted to say, but he didn’t, because he knew that feeling. So instead, he grabbed another couple of cookies and shoved the plate over.

Locus took one, hesitantly, and turned it over to examine the sprinkles.

“Blue?” Grif asked, just to fill in the silence. “Really?”

“Green seemed…too obvious.” He glanced back at the Warthog in all its twinkling glory. “Your handiwork?”

“What, you’re gonna pretend you weren’t watching?”

The silence spoke for itself. Grif snorted.

“Yeah,” he said, running one hand over the lights. “It’s something…back home. It was this whole thing, when I was a kid. People would put lights all over their cars, and on Christmas day there’d be this big parade. One giant party on the beach.” It felt weird, admitting that, even though he knew he’d said more embarrassing shit when Locus was helping him recue the guys.

Locus didn’t say anything, just chewing on the cookie.

“Look,” Grif said, finally, after the silence had gone on way too long. “Do you want to come inside? We’re gonna argue about stop motion for probably ten more minutes and then put on the Muppets Christmas Carol. There’s popcorn and shit. It’ll be fine.”

“That seems…unwise.”

Grif shrugged. He hadn’t been sure it was going to work. “Suit yourself.”

But he didn’t make any move to go anywhere for another few long minutes.

When there was a faint scream from inside the base, though, he sighed and rolled forward, landing on his feet. “Anyway. I better go back in. Offer’s open if you get cold. And keep the cookies, Donut’s been baking like a nutcase.”

Locus looked up from the single cookie with a bite out he was still playing with, and nodded.

Grif made it five steps away before he heard his name called out, and turned back around to see Locus watching him, almost sheepish.

“I…thank you.”

Grif shrugged. “No problem, dude. Merry Christmas.”

When he made it back inside, the alien and the rat puppets were already up on screen, yammering about something or other, so it seemed things were right on schedule. Lopez was in the corner, muttering death threats, so whenever Sarge reactivated his leg servos Grif was going to go on a long walkabout. Donut had settled on the couch with Caboose, Sarge and Dr. Grey were cuddled up together in a chair (ew ew ew ew ew) and Carolina was resting her feet on an old engine and working her way through another cup of cocoa.

Simmons was on the far end of the couch, so Grif detoured to grab some cookies and a blanket before flopping down at his feet, leaning back against the couch and making Simmons jump.

“Dude, chill.”

“You chill,” Simmons muttered, darkly, but didn’t flinch away again.

Cookies. Cheesy movies. Giant flamethrowers and lurking reformed bad guy outside. Blanket and Simmons to lean against.

Not a bad setup, all things considered.

Grif gave it ten minutes before asking, “So, Die Hard?”

Simmons’ hand, where it had been creeping into Grif’s hair, yanked away to bring a pillow thumping down on his head.

[stargleeksil-blog]

Criminal Minds s04e02 Angel Maker review - or more aptly named, oh my god this is amazing yet gross at the same time. Why do this to me?

Episode 02 – Angel Maker

Hey guys! So I’m still reeling from that first episode. Oh my goodness gracious. That was a definite showstopper. But, I’m over it, I hope it’s going to be fine. I hope for a little breather, and that this one will be a little funnier. But let’s see what happens. Okay?

Let’s get it started.

Creepy music isn’t instilling me with much confidence, you know.

A young cat lady? Oh honey.

Oh boy. Someone else is walking in the house.

Oh boy.

Why is that creeper hiding in her closet till the morning to kill her? What the fuck?

And why a hammer?

“You’re experiencing hyperacusis. It’s caused by sudden loud noises, like an explosion.” REALLY?

(that’s sarcasm) – hyper sounds loud.

Wait. So the doctor wants to take him off the field? Oh boy.

I mean, I get it, and I want him to get better, but poor baby, he can’t sit still forever. He hated being a prosecutor.

“W-what if I said I’d … take it easy and … limit my role in the field?”

So cute! He’s like, I need to get back to work.

Wait. He’s so damaged in the ear he can’t hear his phone ringing? Oh, baby.

Wait. That fucker raped and hammered her to death? Ugh.

JJ: “Lower Canaan, Ohio.”

Emily: “Lower where?”

Ha! I love you, Emily. I have no fucking idea where that is either.

“Ritual. Nice hair, by the way.”

Hey! Leave my poodle’s mane!

Wait what? It’s the same victimology of a serial killer who was executed? Makes no sense.

Oh. A copycat honoring the anniversary of his hero’s death. Ew.

I’m sorry, Reid saying ‘semen’ is like hearing me talking in Japanese – unnatural.

Hold up, the jizz they found in the girl is matching to the DNA of the Angel Maker? WHAT?

Oh boy.

Chuck Palahniuk: “We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” AMAZING

“They have parachutes on board, right?”

“They should. It’s standard on all federal air transport.”

“Maybe we can give one to the elephant in the room, get him out of here?”

OH MY GOD! ROSSI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST DIED! SOMEBODY GIVE THOSE WRITERS A GOLD STAR!

“That’d be the elephant with the dead man’s DNA.”

“Well, obviously somebody planted the semen on the victim.”

Derek: “In the victim.”

“Reid, you’re not seriously floating around the idea of an evil twin, are you?”

WHAT?

“No, I’m not. I’m floating the idea of an eviler twin.” DOES HE NOT UNDERSTAND SARCASM?

Oh my god, I’m dying right now.

“Traditionally, the concept is a good twin and an evil twin. But in this case, it’s evil twin and eviler twin.”

Oh god, I love my pure angel.

Why would the puncture wounds seem familiar to Emily? Weird.

That’s a pretty prison.

“Real lady killer.”

REALLY? Did that guard just make that lame ass joke? Oh god.

“The type of DNA that cats in lockup don’t have occasion to use.”

Wow. That’s some strong language there, Derek!

Can I ask? Why does he speak to everyone normally on the phone, but when he talks to Garcia, it’s to the hearing piece? Is he that desperate for her voice? I don’t get it.

Wait. There are rumors about the execution being sloppy? Oh boy.

Wait. They’re digging up the angel maker to prove he’s dead to get the townies off their backs? That’s wrong. Listen to the FBI.

Okay, so I’m naturally extremely sensitive to loud noises, like the buzzing in Hotch’s ear, so can they NOT do that please? UGH

So that’s an empty coffin. And it’s not a good sign.

Oh boy.

Oh god, Shemar is sitting on a desk. Why do I find that hot?

“What does that mean, doctor?” God, no one should sound that hot. Fuck. No really, if you check out my lady parts, you’ll see them all aflutter.

Wait. So they killed him with drugs, and yet he was still alive? Oh boy.

Wait. When they killed Cortland he said he’d come back right before they attempted to execute him? Oh boy.

“Did you know that John Wayne Gracie painted clowns? A murdering pedophile paints clowns, and people hand them on their walls. It’s creepy on so many levels. I mean, clowns –”

“Garcia, I didn’t know you had that hang-up.”

Aw, Derek is learning stuff about baby girl.

“Coulrophobia – abnormal fear of clowns.” Good to know, female Reid XD

“Oh, no, there is nothing abnormal about it. When I was twelve, a hobo clown groped my breast at a birthday party and made this old-timey honkey noise when he did it. Apparently making it funny makes it okay.”

YOU ARE ONE AMAZING GIRL! AND I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE FEAR OF CLOWNS! THEY CREEP ME OUT TOO! (never seen one in this country, but still).

Derek’s face is like, who the fuck touched my baby girl’s boobs? Only I am allowed! Who is this clown and how can I kill him?

“Oh, my vision, I found a ton.”

That’s sad. Angel Maker memorabilia. Ew.

“He also made these little origami figurines out of cigarette boxes, which, I hate to say, are really cute.”

Oh honey.

“Shebang!”

Wait. The guard sells his crap? Oh boy.

“Wakey, wakey, my man.”

Well, Sid’s dead. Shit.

“One to the grill, one to the groin. That’s personal.”

Damn straight.

“Strikes me as an Aqua Velva guy.”

Bam. Nailed it. That’s his cologne.

Ha!

What’s in the pill box?

Wait. It’s a woman now? Oh boy.

Wait. Rutledge blackmailed the unsub? OH BOY!

“We now know that Rutledge was transferred to Hawkesville from a female prison, in the wake of allegations that he was using his position to leverage sexual favors from inmates.”

Oh boy.

“That and the fact that he took a PDE-5 inhibitor shortly before his murder.”

“A what?”

“Viagra.”

Oh damn.

Are they allowed to say that on CBS? Hahahaha oh my god.

“Hybristophilia. It’s a sexual attraction to men who commit violent crimes.”

I’m sorry, but Derek talking about sexual attraction is seriously sexy and he can’t talk about unhealthy attraction and look sexy at the same time because it ruins the whole point.

“She’s using an instrument to simulate the sexual assault …” did they actually say she was using toys on the victim? OH BOY!

“Hey, you ever get groupies at your book singing?” “Sometimes, if Barry Manilow isn’t in town.”

I love you, Rossi.

“Waits an average of three hours for a ten-minute visit, mandatory strip search. Would you endure that for a guy?”

“For Barry Manilow, maybe.”

OH MY GOD EMILY!

Wait. This lady professed she was the fucker’s lover? Oh boy.

“Last time I checked, they didn’t allow conjugal visits on death row.”

True.

Wait. So the lady then stopped loving him because she got a letter addressed to a different woman, but it was written in a different dialect, how can it be from him, then? It makes no sense.

Oh god. Another victim.

She killed a day-care lady? THAT IS CRUEL!

Wait. The puncture wounds mean something? Oh boy.

The letters to ‘dove’ were a code? Oh boy.

I love you, Reid.

“What do you need to crack it?” “The ability to clone myself and a year’s supply of Adderall.”

“I’ll put on the coffee.”

Oh my god, that was genius.

“So they both had home-based businesses. A stranger could walk in off the street and be a prospective customer.” Oh god.

SHIT. The puncture wounds represent constellations. Damn.

“Delphinus, the dolphin; Equuleus, the little horse. Anything sound familiar?”

“His origami things.”

Oh boy.

Shit. One more kill to complete the set. Shit.

“They weren’t just close. They were in love.”

Gross.

“How’d you crack it?”

“I profiled the author. Cortland Ryan was on death row with several high-ranking members of the Aryan brotherhood.”

“He got the code from the Aryans?”

“Either that or he read a lot of 16th-century literature.”

Wait. “The Aryans liked to use a cipher based on a 400-year old code written by Sir Francis Bacon.” Oh god.

“Normally you’d use a computer to run all these combinations, but it was quicker to just to do it longhand until I found the right one.” WHAT?

“He’s so lifelike.” OH MY GOD! EMILY!

Seriously, those letters were so romantic, if it weren’t for the horrible fact that he fucking killed people and she continued his ‘mission’ after death.

JJ’s right. Reid confirmed, “Well, she did say ‘us’ – watch over us from the stars.”

Wait. The victim survived? Because she screamed? GOOD FOR YOU LADY!

Wait. So Shara did the whole thing, trying to get pregnant with the wacko’s kid? EW!

“So if you want me to find baby angel maker, we’re gonna have to narrow it down.” I love you Garcia.

“Ten months, actually.”

“Really?”

No wait. Hold up. Seriously? I didn’t know that a woman was pregnant ten months. Wait. Are they making this up? Hold on. Nope. They’re right. So why are we so convinced that it’s always nine months? MOM! HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO ME????

HAS MY SCHOOL SEX ED CLASS IN THE SIXTH GRADE BEEN LYING TO ME THIS WHOLE TIME?

“We’ll do single mothers only, in case she wanted to keep the father a secret, you know, didn’t want to brag: ‘oh, your baby daddy’s a third-grade teacher? Well, mine likes to poke people in the stomach with tools, so there.’” LOL

So gross, yet so awesome

Wait. Why is the name familiar to my poodle?

Damn. She was on the jury. So she knew the case. Fuck.

Shit. Her baby died in the hospital, she wanted a baby so bad, and she fell in love with the fucker so deeply that she was willing to continue his legacy and let her new baby know who his daddy was? FUCK.

“Completing the murders was the only way she could hold on to him.”

I’m with you, baby, that’s gross. She stole the body from the grave. Fuck.

“Meetings with Delilah Grennan and Maxine Chandler the day of each murder.” Oh boy.

Bam. found the next victim. Let’s hope we get her in time.

Shemar leaning over a car. Hot.

Sneaky, yummy Shemar.

Shit. She took a gun and is roaming the house and my baby is there, too. Fuck.

Wendell Berry: “The past is our definition. we may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it.” Sounds weird. Then again, I’m pretty sure I’m high on caffeine. Which is weird.

“Morgan doesn’t like to follow directions. You didn’t know about that?”

“Yeah he likes to vibe it.”

What does that even mean?

“Ok, smart ass, you drive.”

Emily: “Oh, great.”

I love this cast so fucking much!

And Morgan said ‘ass’.

 Okay, so this episode was creepy in so many ways, but we had more fun between my superheroes which was amazing beyond belief! I’m so happy they put everything in one episode and also addressed what happened to Hotch and didn’t just glance over it.

I’m not gonna elaborate too much, seeing as this is already heavy on the verbosity and I’m planning on adding tons of pictures of Shemar, Kirsten and Matthew anyway. So I’ll see you all for the next episode, and thank you again, for taking the time to actually see what I have in my filthy mind.

Love you all!

<3

[namitaylor99]

Project Proposal and Research

12/5/20

Idea: Comfort food/human’s conciseness/ figural and its significance in photography 

Comfort food, providing a consolation or a feeling of well-being. Everybody has their own sweet and savoury craving, wether its after a long day, a midnight snack or a Sunday morning brunch, we all have one. This personal series will undergo individuals close to me including family and friends, capturing their personality and of course their most desired comfort food. Each image will have its own uniqueness reflecting the person’s characteristics. Constructing an aesthetic series using complimentary colours and artificial lighting to capture theatrical scenes, will tie in each image all possessing the same quality and idea of an individuals own comfort food. I believe this concept connects very nicely to project three, as I will be undergoing this notion of the figural. Figural being a form of significance which relies on imagery and association, capturing symbolic meaning in ones person life.  Inspired by Anne Hardy and Henry Hargreaves, and their ability to capture empty spaces and aesthetic foods, still possessing this notion of the lack of human body except its clear that their soul and presence still remain in the image. This feeling of emotion is what I would like to portray and capture in my series. 

Journal Articles 

The Chicago School of Media Theory: Figurative/Figural 

Theorist Micheal Fried, explores the relationship between the figure and literal within the modern art world. 

Fried’s understanding of the modern age, views art as literalist and minimalist, suggesting that the whole work “they are what they are nothing more” than shapes, colour and form. 

Literal can be seen and used as a metaphor 

The introducing of anthropomorphism can be only depended on literalist art once a person seeks a hidden meaning. 

Anthropomorphism can be seen as a symbol seen from a singles of a shape. 

Literalist art proclaims its object hood

Referring back to literal and the figure, Fried suggest that literalist art is almost seen as non-art because it rejects the representation of art that calls the attention to in the term figure. 

The status of an object within Literalist works are further emphasised between the relationship of the view to the artwork in space. 

Fried draw attentions around the dichotomy betwen the liter and the furfural and figurative, as he further implies the way in which these dichotomy dissipated within the modern art movement. 

Identifying the figure and the literal, yes photography can be seen very literal as we capture something that is clearly identified by all. However once the audience starts to connect the dots (anthropomorphism) thats when the image itself creates it’s own meaning and symbolism. 

https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/figurativefigural/ 

Comfort Food: Nourishing Our Collective Stomachs and Our Collective Minds by Jordan D. Troisi1 and Julian W. C. Wright1 

Food is a powerful motivator in human functioning—it serves a biological need, as emotional support, and as a cultural symbol. 

Comfort food in the media is seem as unhealthy, often  consumed in moments of stress or sadness

But for anyone who has a love of food and of eating, it will come as no surprise that food also has emotional, cultural, and symbolic mean- ing as well. 

Food satisfies our collective minds 

Comfort food serve as a memory based link to close others  and that those with secure attachment styles would have favorable associations with foods associated with other people.

This article provides information on how society identifies comfort as it can be seen through two perspective, as stress eating (unhealthy food) causing anxiety and is something tradi- tional, cultural, regional, familial, or otherwise imbued with meaning 

Eating is the perfect social psychological variable, because it is connected to almost every social variable or process you can think of! (Herman, as cited in Baumeister & Bushman, 2014, p. xxi)

Given the need for humans to consume food in order to maintain numerous homeostatic processes, such topics also seem relevant for courses in biopsychology. Furthermore, there is clear evidence that stressful experiences have numerous bio- logical implications.

This article provides insight on what comfort can really represent for ones individual - it’s a guilty pleasure meal that is close to their hearts. It can be something that endure and crave if feeling overwhelmed or stress which is why some may seem to be fatty and fills with sugar and oil however comfort food isn’t always seen as that. It possess cultural aspects and symbolises their homes - when feeling home sick.

https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy2.library.usyd.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1177/0098628316679972 

Artists of Inspiration 

Through my online journal I have briefly discussed Anne Hardy and Henry Hargreaves, both strongly influencing me for my idea for project three. I have also done research of artist Jeff Wall. I will be elaborating further below on what aspect of these artists works have influenced me and how I will use this to create a capture my own innovative series. 

Anne Hardy 

Hardy’s work transforms sculpture into photographic ‘paintings’. Though her scenes are built in actuality, their compositions are developed to be viewed from one vantage point only and it’s only their 2 dimensional images that are shown. Hardy uses the devices inherent within photography to heighten her work’s painterly illusion. In Cipher, aspects such as the hazy aura around the fluorescent lights, faux grotto walls, and the spatial defiance of the hanging ropes, give allusion to gesture and drawn lines.

‘Cipher’ 2007 

Henry Hargreaves

Photographer Henry Hargreaves and installation artist Nicole Heffron have spent the past year imaging how famous directors might celebrate their birthdays in order to recreate the scenes for a unique photo series. Pictured: The bloodied samurai sword suggests that this cake was intended for Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino

The image of the staircase on this birthday cake suggests that this birthday cake was intended for the Vertigo director Alfred Hitchcock 

The bear-shaped cake here is an instant giveaway that this is the birthday cake of Ted director Seth Macfarlane

The glass of milk in this set up is a subtle suggestion that this sterile birthday is that of the Clockwork Orange director Stanley Kubrick

The scene at Martin Scorsese's knees-up has elements of New York's Little Italy as well as the gambling and cigars of Casino and his first hit Mean Streets

John Waters' identity is given away by his Pink Flamingos cake, a reference to the title of the 1972 movie starring drag queen Divine

What I love the most of Hargreaves food images is how he can create these bloody to half eaten food scenes look so pleasing to the eye even when it should make you feel a little gross out. Food photography I feel is very difficult to capture and the same goes in films. It’s so easy for people to be gross out by them especially when their hands and mouths involved, however Hargreaves manages to create these aesthetic food series, almost making me hungry and wanting to eat those cakes. Hargreaves has inspired in the past with previous food photographs, and he still manages to continue to inspire me now. His work is so intriguing and the use of colour and composition overall ties in the image very nicely. However, instead of capturing celebrities and prisoners on death row, for my own work I want it to be personal. Using the pope around me such as family and friends and capture what their own comfort food is their favourite and what it means to them. Is it a stress comfort food or is something that reminds them of home, child hood or a distant memory. Even for myself and capturing my own comfort food and exploring why I have chosen that specific meal. I believe exploring on this idea of food and the figural, it will ultimately challenge me, and let me undergo such research and even an experience of capturing something more than just a photograph of food but the human soul behind that. 

Jeff Wall

I begin by not photographing.

—Jeff Wall

This quote really speaks to me on what art really means to myself. I believe their is so much more than just taking a photo. Behind the scenes artists have to create this ideal image before capturing the photo itself. I love constructing and forming this perfect composition in my mind and capturing it with a camera allows that form to last forever however just creating art itself bringing forth this new world of what photography can really say. 

Jeff Wall’s work synthesizes the essentials of photography with elements from other art forms—including painting, cinema, and literature—in a complex mode that he calls “cinematography.” His pictures range from classical reportage to elaborate constructions and montages, usually produced at the larger scale traditionally identified with painting

Some of Wall’s early pictures evoke the history of image making by overtly referring to other artworks: The Destroyed Room (1978) explores themes of violence and eroticism inspired by Eugène Delacroix’s monumental painting The Death of Sardanapalus (1827), while Picture for Women (1979) recalls Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882) and brings the implications of that famous painting into the context of the cultural politics of the late 1970s. These two pictures are models of a thread in Wall’s work that the artist calls “blatant artifice”: pictures that foreground the theatricality of both their subject and their production. Dead Troops Talk (1991–92), a large image depicting a hallucinatory moment from the Soviet war in Afghanistan, is a central example, and was one of the first works to employ digital-imaging technology, which has since transformed the landscape of photography. Wall was a pioneer in exploring this dimension and remains at the forefront of its development.

Doing research on Wall and his work, it’s clear he really wants to capture these somewhat candid images however, behind these image unfold stories and visions. His work in a way have these capturing aesthetic scenes that drawn the audience in. It creates a sense of narrative and story lines by one single picture. I did find the “Destroyed Room” to be very fascinating and it held many similarities on what I wanted to create. However after viewing his other works I couldn’t help   but be intrigued by his image “Changing Room”, the image itself look as if it’s some kind of painting. I think it also ties in with this theme figure and figural topic. The top half of the body looks as if it's some kind of bird especially the animal pattern on the fabric. However, on the bottom half it’s clear that a women is simply just getting change. The figure itself seems to be part human and animal, thats how I view the image as a whole. And I do believe thats what Wall was trying to capture this weirdly human figure or it could have been by accident of the lady putting the shirt or another from of dress and it just seemed as if it was a bird. Overall Wall’ work is absolutely amazing, it has this sense of allude affect on the scenes, drawing myself within the images, trying to figure this narrative by just viewing one image. I wanna be able to incorporate this whole emotional effect on my own images and creating this sense of narrative. 

200 word Project Proposal 

Looking at a variety of artists and articles surrounding this whole notion of the figural within art has allowed me to compose a solid idea of what I will be exploring within project 3. Comfort food is known for providing a consolation or a feeling of well-being. Reading 'Comfort Food: Nourishing Our Collective Stomachs and Our Collective Minds’ it provides insight into what comfort food really means for an individual. It can be seen through two perspectives, including stress and anxiety eating, this makes people crave more unhealthy sugary or high fat food, or is something tradi- tional, cultural, regional, familial, or otherwise imbued with meaning to an individual. Gathering both research on the figural/literal themes within art and this whole concept of comfort food, I believe both have similar qualities and can be captured in a unique form. Wanting to approach this project in a more personal outlook, I will be exploring and capturing my friends and families own comfort food and what it means to them. I will also be using myself and my own desired comfort food, to explore and ask questions what makes comfort food comfort?. Inspired by Anne Hardy, Jeff Wall and Henry Hargreaves, each artists has provided a source of inspiration that I will be incorporating within my own work, however still creating an innovative personal series of my own. 

[altughuner-blog]

Kolhapur to me stood for the temple of Mahalakshmi, Kolhapuri Chappals, Hot Chillis and Lavani dance. I first visited the city as part of the luxury train Deccan Odyssey trip. Got to spend just a couple of hours there that gave me a glimpse of Places to visit in Kolhapur. I knew I would come back. It took me a few years to return, but this time I savored the sights, sounds, and flavors of the city.

I remember wearing a saffron Pheta at the city railway station. This was my first taste of Kolhapuri culture.

Brief History of Kolhapur

In the recorded history, Kolhapur was ruled by Shilaharas from 10th-13th CE. In the medieval times by Maratha rulers with Shahu Maharaj its best-known ruler. Tarabai – the daughter-in-law of Shivaji Maharaj also ruled the region. Her idols can be seen all over the city.

In the Pauranik literature, it is a part of the Karvirpur Kshetra.

Places to Visit in Kolhapur

Mahalakshmi Temple – This is the biggest attraction in the city. So we did a complete post on Mahalakshmi Temple in Kolhapur. Do read it.

New Palace

New Palace

The New Palace actually dates back to 19th CE. Since it replaced an old palace, the name new stuck to it. Since there is little possibility of any new palaces coming up, the name suits it.

Built in a combination architecture in dark grey, the palace has unique eight angles with a clock tower in the middle. The ground floor of this building is now a museum where the collections of the royal family are displayed.

The erstwhile royal family continues to stay in one part of this palace. There are huge displays of Royal portraits, old furniture, artifacts, statues, Ganjifa cards, a gallery of stuffed animals that were hunted by the kings. Of course, there is a display of weapons and arms.

Durbar hall with high ceilings, carved pillars, and panels of exquisite glass paintings depicting life events of the royal family is the high point of this palace. The museum is well organized and documented. Opposite the building, there is a small lake and a zoo. We could see a lot of birds including the migratory ones on the trees standing in the lake.

This obviously is among the list of Places to visit in Kolhapur.

Bhavani Mandap – Old Palace

The Bhawani Mandap

Bhavani Mandap is the old palace that you enter through a big gate. This palace was destroyed in a fire and that led to the construction of the new one. Construction here is massive and medieval in the same dark grey stone. There is a life-size statue of Sahu Maharaj, the beloved king of the city.

We moved towards the imposing stone gate of Bhawani Mandap.

City Library

Before that, we visited the Karvir Nagar Vachan Mandir or the local library. On the left of the main gate, we saw the lovely Rajaram Mahavidyalaya. This beautiful building has nuances of Rajasthani architecture like Jharokhas and arches, Mughal as well as colonial architecture. Built in 1880, this building still runs like a school.

Another gate of Bhawani Mandap

We entered Bhawani Mandap, but instead of a building, we found ourselves in an open ground with shops all around. There were hustle and bustle all around. There was street food on one side and the temple offerings including the beautiful Saris on the other.

Straight ahead, I remembered watching Dandpatta during my earlier trip here.

Dandpatta Video

Here in this city, I got to see these young men and women showcasing the traditional Maratha Martial arts. Watch the video.

Dandpatta is the traditional martial arts practiced by women. It was a sheer delight to see young girls in saffron saris playing effortlessly with the swords in their hands. Young men also presented their skills with the swords but I missed the traditional attire.

Bhawani Mandir

Last time, I missed visiting the Tulja Bhawani temple. This time I visited it and discovered a small museum here.

Shivaji Gaddi, Bhawani Mandap

Shivaji Gaddi – Bhawani Mandap

There is a life-size statue of this favorite King of Kolhapur – Shahu Ji. There are dioramas of animals, including a giant bison that were apparently hunted by Shahu Ji Maharaj.

When you stand in the vast courtyard of Bhawani Mandap, you get a glimpse into the world of walled cities. I wonder how life would have been, well protected by the strong walls on all sides, and right next to the Mahalakshmi temple.

Kolhapuri Saaj

The interesting part of this museum-cum-temple is a throne that was once used by Shivaji Maharaj. A portrait of his hangs behind the throne.

Apparently, there is an underground tunnel that connects Bhawani Mandap to Panhala fort, some 20 km away. No one seems to know about it though.

Kushti or Taaleem

Pahalwan at Gangavesh Akhara

Kolhapur is a great center for Wrestling or Kushti as we call it in India. It would not be wrong to say wrestling is the favorite sport of this city. It was well patronized by its erstwhile Kings and the legacy continues to live.

The Olympian K D Jadhav who won a bronze in 1952 Olympics, was spotted and trained by the then King Shahaji II in the city.

There are two places that I recommend you to visit for wrestling enthusiasts.

Khasbag Kushti Maidan or the Khasbag Wrestling Stadium

Khasbagh Kushti Maidan

I have never seen a wrestling stadium in India, and that too such a big one. It has a covered platform that I assume would have been the place where the King sat. The legacy may have passed on to the current day VIPs.

In the center is the wrestling ring with soft soil in it. All around the stadium is just a slope with a layer of cow dung. However, it is designed in such a way that wherever you sit, you will get the full view of the ring.

I have never seen a dedicated wrestling stadium like the one I saw in this city.

Gangavesh Taleem or Akhara

Gangavesh Taleem or Akhara

The city has many Akharas or Taleems as they are known locally. Gangavesh Akhara is quite popular. I visited it around noon time when the wrestlers and their Guru Ji were resting after their daily practice.

I saw the large space dug within a large room. The soil is nurtured with Haldi or turmeric, ghee, and herbs. It is worshipped like a deity before the wrestlers start their daily practice. On the wall was an image of Hanuman, the Isht Devta of all wrestlers.

Read More – Pahalwan Routine at Tulsi Akhara in Varanasi

Watch this video of Tulsi Akhara

Other important Akharas in the city include Shahupuri Akhara, Motibag Akhara, and New Motibag Akhara.

Normally, women are not allowed in Akharas during practice time. So, please check with the authorities or take prior permission to visit the Akharas.

I am told that wrestlers from around the country come here to learn wrestling. This includes the famous wrestlers of Haryana, who have won many Olympics and other international medals in wrestling.

Traditionally, wrestlers or Pahalwans came from villages and hinterlands. It was kind of a family sport for many families. However, with recent success stories in professional wrestling, many young men and women are taking it up as a career. Akharas are also opening up for women.

Pahalwans I spoke to at Gangavesh Akhara were all preparing for some tournament or the other. May they rise and shine.

Rankala Lake

Rankala Lake Kolhapur

It is a huge lake little more than a kilometer away from Mahalakshmi temple. The nightlife of the city is centered around this lake. You will see a long queue of street food sellers along the lake.

Rankala Lake is a man-made lake. It has a temple in the middle just like Panchganga River has along its ghats. One of those places to visit in Kolhapur for the waterbody fans.

Kailashgarhchi Sawari Mandir

Portrait of Shivaji Maharaj

This was not on my list of Places to visit in Kolhapur, but thanks to Twitter, I discovered this little known gem.

This is a small temple located inside the lanes of the city. It is an ancient Shiv temple that was renovated a few years back. Shiva here lives as Kailasheshwar, just like he lives as Vishveshwar in Kashi. Kolhapur is also treated as Kashi of Karvirpur Kshetra. Nandi in golden color sits outside the temple door as does the Deepstambhas of the temple.

Shivaji Durbar Painting – Kailashgarhchi Sawari

What took me to this temple is the paintings of Shivaji Maharaj that is the official portrait of him declared by the Maharashtra Government.

Mahabharat War Scene by G Kamble

The temple has many exquisite paintings by the noted painter – Sh G Kamble including:

Shivaji Durbar

Shahu Ji Maharaj portrait

Mahabharat War scene or Ranbhumi painting with a 3-D effect

Shiva Tandav painting.

Panchganga River & its lovely temple

The city is located on the banks of the Panchganga river. I wanted to visit the river, but no one told me that it has lovely ghats. I noticed them while passing over a bridge on the river on my way to Panhala Fort. On our way back we stopped here at the ghats.

Panchganga Ganga Ghats

The ghats of Panchganga are full of various temples and tall Deepstambhas. All temples are made in stone, have a single room with a pyramidical Shikhar and a Nandi outside the main door. Each temple is at a different level. When we visited in early April, some were totally submerged in water with only the roof visible, others were half submerged while some were just inside the water.

This reminded me of temples on the ghats of Tapti at Burhanpur that are used to measure the water levels. I wonder if these temples also had a similar purpose. For now, no one could answer this for me. Opposite this ghat is a huge temple which stays closed most of the time.

I could also see some carved hero stones on the ghats. The place was filthy and full of garbage. I hope the authorities do something to keep it clean. It can be such a beautiful location for locals as well as travelers to visit in the mornings and evenings.

One person said, these are not temples but they are cenotaphs of the royal family of Kolhapur. Any information on this would be highly appreciated.

Town Hall Museum

Town Hall Museum

While the New Palace Museum is popular with tourists, the town hall museum has some of the local archaeological gems. The place used to be a Jain Mutt, but in 1949 it was formally converted into a museum. The architecture is totally colonial.

Vishnu Murti – Town Hall Museum

Some must-see artifacts at Town Hall Museum here are:

Shivalingas with a Sri Yantra on it

Vishnu Murti

Sculpted Elephants

Excavated artifacts from Brahmapuri area of the city

Hero stones and Sati Stones

Lavani Dance

Lavani performance by a troupe

During my Deccan Odyssey trip, I got a glimpse Kolhapuri Lavani. Local TV artists presented various dance and singing styles of the region in a small package based on – a day in the life of a village home in the region. They ended the performance with a dedication to Ambabai – the presiding Goddess of Kolhapur. There was so much energy in the room that we could almost feel the presence of the divine.

Mujra

Board Announcing Mujra in the city

I saw boards announcing Mujras in the city. I could not attend one this time, but I do want to see one next time I visit the city. Will update this space then.

What to Eat

Sabudana Wada

This city is famous for its non-vegetarian cuisine. For vegetarians, there is Misal Pao and Wada Pao. I did enjoy my street food inside the Bhawani Mandap one evening. My favorite being Sabudana Wadas.

Places to visit near Kolhapur

Kopeshwar Mahadev Temple – a beautiful ancient temple about 70 km from the city. It can be easily done as a day trip from the city.

Panhala Fort – This is located just on the outskirts of the city.

Narsobachiwadi – a temple at the confluence of Panchganga and Krishna River. You can do it on the way to Kopeshwar Temple.

Jyotiba temple – This is a beautiful temple complex where the deity is offered Gulal or bright pink colored powder.

Siddhagiri Museum – An attempt to recreate the ethnic life of Maharashtra. I did not particularly like it.

Amboli Ghats – It is the best place to see waterfalls in the western ghats.

Travel Tips

No photography is allowed inside the Mahalakshmi temple, Town Hall Museum, and New Palace. Most of the other places photography is allowed.

Places to visit in Kolhapur city is easy for the visitors with autos available everywhere for commuting.

There are all kinds of Hotels in the city. I stayed at Maratha Residency and it was a decent place to stay on a reasonable budget.

The city is well connected to Mumbai, Pune, and Belagavi.

The post Places To Visit In Kolhapur – The Cultural Heart Of Maharashtra appeared first on Inditales.

[travelsketchbymaitri]

Kerala || God’s Own Country

Imagine, standing at the edge of the hills at dawn, enjoying the nature, the lush green. So decided, I want to visit hills this vacation as mountains are calling me !!!

Ohh.. ohkayy!! Hold on pease. My mind is sending another signal. Let’s rewind this creative ability.

Standing on a beach at dusk, getting a charge out of the breeze, the colorful canvas. Now decided, I am going to visit beaches this vacation, as beaches are drawing me to relax.

No.. no.. wait again. It’s another indication from my mind.

Let’s re-imagine!!!

Stroll in the Jungle!!! Yeah, that’s it. This sounds like doable for this vacation.

Or on the other hand boating sounds exciting too, something like a house boat.

What the heck, why m I so confused? Where to visit for this vacation??

In between all this muddle, my heart said there is one state where all the above are at one spot. Kerala it is !!! Broadly claimed as ‘God’s own Country’.

What else should be it called?

Think of coffee plantation, delightful hills, crashing surf, swaying palm trees, silent backwater, amazing national parks containing diverse species of fauna & flora, the spices, the Ayurveda retreats and so forth.

Everything you get in a single state, Kerala is indeed God’s own country. And imagine you have been teleported to this place, exploring the marvels of nature. There goes the confusion away and I decided to visit Kerala.

Kerala has multiple options to explore and is an enormous state which would require a great deal of time. I have been able to explore a few of them and will share the details here. The rest are yet to explore and will be updated as on time.

Places you can explore in Kerala:

North Kerala- Kannur & Thottada beach, Wayanad.

Central Kerala- Kochin, Munnar.

South Kerala- Thekkady, Alleppey, Kumarakom, Kollam, Varkala.

 Kochi/Cochin-

Journey- 

Kochi is one of the town in Kerala and very popular in tourism. It does have a lot to cover. You can spend evenings in exploring lanes in Fort Kochi where you will find colonial houses, cafes, art galleries, churches. Please note that Kochi town is around 25 kms away from Ernakulam where all the transport arrives and departs from. I took a flight from New Delhi to Kochi because I wanted to explore the Cherai beach, Munnar and Thekkady.

Stay-

Since Kochi is a hard-core city, so I decided to stay at Cherai. It is a beach of Kochi which is around 30 kms away from the main city. I stayed at Sea Lagoon, it hypnotizes you as the front of the resort faces the beach, in the mid it has a pool and it touches the backwaters at the end. And on top of it I experienced the amazing weather with the drizzle. There were many more resorts at Cherai but I pre booked this resort and had an wonderful time.

You can also explore the Fort Kochi area to stay where one can also find Homestays at every corner! One can stay in Kochi city, but my suggestion to stay at Cherai and just relax.

Things to do in Kochin-

As stated earlier, it is a town with an astonishing history. It has been colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch & British at different times in history. The city still conserves an interesting mix of architecture from its varying colonial past. Ernakulam is the city’s cosmopolitan part, while Fort Kochi is the tourist hub.

Fort Kochi- 

Do not get confused with the name, it’s a beach!!!

As suggested above, it is the tourist hub and you will find all the essences of the colonial culture.

You can observe the Chinese fish net at the shoreline. Interesting fact, these nets are said to be in use for last 500 years! If you stay long at the beach, you might get the chance to watch the fishermen use it.

Fort Kochi does also have Art Museums, Churches around the corner to explore. There are plenty of cafes covering the lanes of Fort Kochi.

Jew Street- 

It has some interesting antiques & gifting items. One can find a varied option from hand- made soaps, little house boats, jewellery, wooden & metal figures, carved wooden furniture, wall hangings or even a painted cow head. However, most of the items sold are not from traditionally from Kerala. I find it quite amusing that many of the artefacts sold were from Rajasthan & Kashimir. In fact, a simple stroll will sweep you back in variety of cultures.

Kerala Backwaters- 

The famous backwaters, which make Kerala a complete God’s own country. Though few people might find it’s euphoric and natures epic work. But few of you might just find it still water and nothing to get excited about. There is also an option of boating where they take you in a motor boat for an hour, gives you an option of coconut water in the way and reveals to you some fascinating articulates.

But to me, backwaters are the most snooping work by nature. Tranquil water fed by approx. 38 rivers surrounded by paddy fields and coconut trees. It is a must experience in Kochi.

Art Festival- 

There are many art galleries in Kochi but what it is most known for is Biennale. It is an international contemporary art festival, which happens every other year. This time it was from December 2018 to March 2019 and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to explore it. This festival takes places at different art galleries planted in 7-8 different venues centered around Fort Kochi to Mattancherry. Let me be very specific, you need to be an art lover to appreciate such deep meaning & astonishing arts. And one must need another level of intellect to even understand the contemporary art. Though I could not understand the some of the Art pieces, but surely it was one of the experiences at Kochi which I relished the most.

Munnar-

Journey- 

If you are searching for more lush greens and sightseeing of nature, Munnar is the place for you. It is often presented as a one-day destination to be covered among the bunch of options in Kerala. However, this scenic hill station of central Kerala, located on the Western Ghats, in Idukki district deserves more of your time.

I took a flight from Delhi to Kochi and from there a cab to reach to Munnar. One note to take here is that private commutation is expensive in Kerala. Either you can choose to take a local bus from Kochi or you may pre book a taxi which could also be a feasible option. I booked my cab from J&J taxi services and I found them simply on Google. The cabbie was a local native of Kerala and he kept telling us the minute details of the way. Before even reaching to the resort they will show you Munnar around.

Stay- 

There are several selections of stay from homestay to luxurious resorts. We stayed at Munnar Fort which was on outskirts of the city. I pre- booked it from makemytrip however, would suggest staying in the mid of the city.

Things to do-

Tea Museum-

A swift walk through the widespread tea plantation will not do the justice to the Munnar tea legacy. Do Visit the tea museum, originally handled by Tata Tea. You will also get to know the difference variety of the tea and how to brew it properly. Browse through the curious, photographs and also the massive machinery in the tea museum.

Mattupetty Dam Lake-

It’s a delightful spot to wonder around with family. Though I heard that there are many options of boating say speed boats, pedal boats and row boats but I couldn’t spectate any. Rain could be the reason for the same, but I am sure it would have been fun on the serene water.

Eravikulam National Park-

It is being considered one of the best national parks in Kerala. Please do keep the timings in mind which is from 7:30 am to 4 pm. Consisting of the endangered species, it is must visit in Munnar.

Elephant Park- 

This park offers short rides of elephant safari of around 10-15 mins. Short bumpy path, slightly slanting at some part and descending for the rest of the path. You can actually feel the muscles moving of the elephant. They even pose along with you for a wonderful pic.

If you pay extra you even get to feed them some fruits.

Kathakali and Kalari/ Kalaripayattu-

There are several performing art theatres in Munnar which have shows of Kathakali Dance Performance which is the traditional dance form of Kerala. With fabulous colors and organic makeup, it is one of the splendid traditional dance forms of India. they also let you see the preparation of the makeup of the artists. They will translate the dance from scratch for you to decode the artists’ gestures.

The theatre has also had shows of Kalari which is a traditional Indian Martial Art form. The artists are massively strong and sound with fit bodies. You will be stunned even at looking at the performance with swords, spears, shields. They sometimes even call people from the audience to be the part of the act. At the end you even get to click the pics with the artists.

The theater is the must visit and both the shows are incredible. Do Not Miss the essence of true Kerala.

Thekkady-

Thekkady is another place in Kerala which attracts tourist mainly for its less commercialization. It’s rich in its serene beauty located in Tamil Nadu- Kerala border. It is a busy plantation town and a center of spice trading activities.

If you wish to directly reach to Thekkady, nearest airport would be Madurai or else you can combine this with one go trip of Kerala.

The Major Attraction of Thekkady is the Periyar National Park, which is the only tiger reserve in Kerala and home to many endangered species. Though it’s a tiger reserve, but it’s the best elephant sanctuary in India. Although walking tours, elephant rides and night patrols are offered through the forest by the tourism department, the best way to see the reserve is to take a boat ride on the lake. It is a huge boat and takes you for a ride along with 50 more people for around an hour in the lake. If you are lucky, you may experience sightseeing for elephant & tiger. Early morning rides are preferred as animals do visit the lake that time.

One can also explore boarder trekking, bamboo rafting and Periyar tiger trail. It also has the options of Kathakali, Kalari and elephant ride & bath like Munnar. It is a must visit especially for the Periyar National Park.

[coughscent1-blog]

Colony @ Eco City tour!

Hello everyone!

So the launch of Colony @ Eco City has come and gone (two weeks ago) and I’m finally getting around to blogging about it! T____T  I haven’t really been writing much about it so this post is gonna be it ok hold on to your seats wtf.

We’ve been working on this since last December so it’s been like 7 months in the coming!

This project was quite different from our first one, when honestly I had no idea what I was doing.  I thought this would be easier, having gone through it once before.  As usual I was wrong. Lol.

The first Colony used to be a serviced office before we took it over.  All we had to do really, was renovate and furnish it.  Sure, we added facilities and equipment, upgraded the Internet and things like that, but everything was mostly set up already.

For Eco City, we had a completely blank space.  Only concrete walls and floor and exposed piping.  So we got to work.  We first submitted our plans for approval from DBKL and Bomba (City Council and Fire Department)… but first I had to go talk to engineers too for drawing up the plans.  My first time dealing with anything like this, but the engineer was so nice he walked me through the entire process, step by step.  I understood then, but my sieve-like memory has forgotten some of it now. -_-

After that came the electrical drawings, the plumbing drawings, fire safety drawings, data points, airconditioning, flooring, furnishing….

All these came from our awesome design team ok.  I merely nodded and trusted Buddha WTF.

Then came the fun part – design.

When we first secured the space, we were ecstatic – huge floor to ceiling windows, tons of natural light, nice spacious square shape.  It even faced a hill which had a river running towards us. #goodfengshui  It’s also bigger than our KLCC location and Fatty and I imagined it would be our flagship location.

So since it’s Colony… what theme would be better than a (British) Colonial theme?  I have no idea how other designers work but for me, it really helps if I have a strong theme in mind to allude to.  Because I like a lot of things wtf and I don’t want to stray off track hahaha.  A theme helps remind me and keep me focused I guess.

I usually try to strike a balance between ‘homey’ and ‘comfortable’ and ‘luxurious’ for Colony so I felt this theme matched the purpose as well.  Colonial style decoration would be grand enough, yet toned down enough for people to relax in it.

This was our first artist’s impression.

*poker face*

It’s nice! But it looks like The Majestic.  Or Fullerton in Singapore.  When I thought colonial, I totally forgot that it’s a popular theme for hotels in this region hahaha.

I thought it needed a bit more character, or something to change it up a bit.  Working on Colony, I learned that I like contrasts in design, and this design was too straight in getting to its destination.  Does that make sense?

I asked, how about adding some unexpected colors?  Like pink?

*more poker face*

*puts saline drops in eyes*

I removed the fuchsia and replaced it with pastel pink.  And eliminated the Buncho yellow.

Results were much better!  We also added a whole bunch of elements traditionally associated with colonial style: a lot of greenery in the form of big leafed plants like banana and palm, blue and white Chinese porcelain, brass fixtures, beautiful old books, and rattan.

And here’s the final result! 🙂

Here’s the cafe area.  The cafe in Eco City is run by The Embassy, who have an outlet in Starling Mall too.

We chose a gorgeous dull mint color for the cafe which contrasts so well with the pink!  ID was skeptical about too many colors but I love itttttt.

We did marble topped tables for the old school charm and rattan backed chairs.

The lounge area where people can chill, have discussions or hot desk.

The day beds on the right are my pride and joy. T___T I kept thinking in the initial design drafts that the ‘colonialism’ wasn’t coming out strong enough.  I’m so glad I saw these canopy beds on Pinterest hahahaha. Cos they really make the space! This pic was taken before the canopies arrived so I might update this later.

Designer customized the beds for seating; I imagined full on beds but these are much better cos I don’t want people to have to put their feet up when they sit down la hahaha can’t be too comfortable wtf.

Details: we put in standing louvers, painted black.  When I was Fighter’s age, I lived in my grandparents’ Colonial terrace house in Penang which had louvered windows so this is so nostalgic for me. 🙂

Our throws are cased in mostly botanical prints or animal skin prints.  For rugs we used handwoven rattan-like rugs.

Spin behind the cafe a bit.  Lockers for our Reserved Desk guests (who don’t have locked drawers for their belongings) are on the left.  Straight in front is the kids’ playroom.

The kids’ room includes a nursing room!  The cushion is so apt ok. When your nips are bleeding and you’re putting cabbage leaves on your boobs to stop the clog, remember what the cushion says wtf.

Anyway yellow armchair for momma to sit, next to it are appropriate baby supplies – diapers, wet wipes and even nursing pads thoughtfully provided by Applecrumby and Fish.  And changing table on the left!

Here’s the playroom!  Walls are done in customized wallpaper.  Picket fence is there to corrall off screaming and running lolol.

Inside we have a slide, a dolls’ house, and a city scape set up…

And a toy kitchen on the other side.  All from Taobao LOL GOOD BUYS LEH.  Sorry I don’t know where to get it cos ID got everything.

The highlight is this wtf.  There was a little bit of space under the stairs outside so we broke it in and created this little nook.  Then Katrine created a house facade around it and filled it with beds, cushions and lots of stuffed animals.  I think it’s the critters’ favorite part of Colony actually.

Back out again.  Another view of the lounge and Reserved Desks area.

Phone booths are done up in pink!  One of my favorite details here.

What a phone booth at Colony @ Eco City looks like.

Inside we have an old fashioned writing desk and chair, with a Persian style rug on hardwood floor.  We filled it with cushions, throw blankets and furry to reduce any echoing that could come from phone calls or video conferences. ^^

This nook is our Instagram corner. Hahahah.  The pink is a print we got from Shutterstock and blew up LOL.  Cos customizing a wallpaper was too expensive wtf.  #renohacks

Our conference room.  Fits 14 people!  Our meeting rooms are always named after famous explorers or trailblazers, so for this Colony, our conference room is called Battuta, for Ibn Battuta.

People who studied sejarah should know la ok hahahaha.  One other meeting room is called Murasaki for Lady Murasaki Shikibu, who was a lady in waiting in Japan, and wrote The Tale of Genji, considered the first ever novel in the world! *nerd*  And the third is called Armstrong for Neil Armstrong, who was the first man on the moon.

This is our event space.  When there are no events, this area will be used for just hanging out or hot desking.

When there are events though, the furniture can be moved around to accommodate the style of event.  I tried to choose lighter, individual pieces for easier shifting.

Ooh one of my favorite spots too!  We ordered these steamer trunk tables from China and they got lost at sea FML.  I was going crazy cos I thought we were gonna launch with no tables but luckily they came in time!  I love them so much I got two smaller ones for our bedside tables at home.

Ordered this chair cos I thought it was really unique but now I suddenly see it everywhere. -_-

Here’s the entrance to our private office suites!

Flooring is in black and white tile for a retro feel.

The pictures I chose all also got colonial theme one!  We have a lot of old maps, tropical animal portraits and vintage photos of British colonial scenes.

This is a special room, called the Jamestown Suite.  Named after one of the first British colonies, it’s a glammed up luxe version of a normal Colony office.

We outfitted it with wallpaper, hardwood floors, a Chesterfield couch, TV screen…

A Marshall speaker, and smart home capabilities.  You can basically control the curtains, music, TV and lights with Google Home. ^^ For special clients only hehehe.

Here’s Murasaki.

I added this pug which is damn random but damn cute ok hahahaha.  Apt cos Murasaki in Japanese means purple and his shades got purple there wtf.

The pantry (and a mop).

Nap room which you can book to take a quick break.

I also made a video tour!  I shot it while some of our furniture wasn’t even in yet though but just to give you a guys a sense of the place.  Also includes Fighter and Penny’s reaction to the kids’ playroom hahaha.

Source: https://fourfeetnine.com/2018/07/31/colony-eco-city-tour/